Azure Eyed Twilight
by Serenity2019
Summary: Serenity Steele is used to an uneventful Canadian city life. But when her family moves across the border to Forks, Washington State, her life and everything she thought she knew gets a heck of a lot more exciting! This story will take you on a journey through time and different POVs! ENJOY!
1. CH 1 - We're Moving!

My name is Serenity Steele, I am 15 years old and I live in Vancouver, Canada. A city with a population of over 675 thousand people. It is described as a bustling west coast seaport located in "Beautiful British Columbia" - it is also among Canada's densest, most ethnically diverse cities with one of the largest Asian populations outside of Asia… If you have ever been there, you know what I mean. I, myself, am biracial. My dad is German, a tall man with an athletic build, completed by the stereotypical blonde hair and blue eyes. My mother is Hawaiian, a short and very petite lady with beautiful dark brown skin, brown eyes and thick, jet black, pin straight hair. They are in their early forties, but both look much younger, especially my mom - we would often be mistaken for sisters when we were out together.

It's the end of June and I am so happy my first year of high school is over. Grade 10 may have been the worst school year yet for me. You see, for as long as I can remember, I was always the shy, quiet type. I had a really hard time making friends, so I was pretty much labelled an outcast at school and ended up spending most of my time alone. My twin brother, Liam, however… well, he was the complete opposite of me; outgoing and popular. Like my dad, he was tall (5'10 and still growing) with an athletic build, sun kissed bronze skin, blue eyes and dark hair - I was just his shadow. The only time people would even bother talking to me, was to ask me about him – girls would ask me if he was single, teachers would ask me where he was, if he missed a day at school, his friends would ask me if he was busy that weekend, etc.

Even though we grew up the exact same way, we turned out so differently. Liam still plays sports; right now, he plays hockey, and everyone is sure that he is destined to play for the NHL someday. He is also part of our high schools' football team and just an all-around great athlete, who excels in whatever he puts his mind to. I used to play volleyball and basketball (despite my short stature), but I no longer play for any leagues or school teams because I just don't fit in with the rest of the girls. My brother and I did gymnastics as well as various forms of dance growing up. We also took piano, guitar and voice lessons from a very young age, because our parents believed that doing sports would help get some of that extra energy out and playing instruments and singing would help us with our confidence as we got older. Both of us now have our Piano level 8 and have mastered the guitar (as much as we really need to, for what we use it for). Our parents paid attention to both of us equally, they are both very encouraging and cheer us on in everything we do, they are literally our biggest fans; but somehow, as Liam and I got older, my brother became more confident and I just didn't (for whatever reason). He enjoyed the thrill of performing for big crowds and relished the attention he received. I always got nervous when I had to perform in front of a crowd, almost to the point of throwing up. It seemed as though my parents' plan to instill confidence in us through these types of activities failed… well, at least for me.

Despite all this though, my brother and I have always shared a strong bond and close sibling relationship. He is always there for me when I need someone to talk or vent to – he is my best friend… and right now, pretty much my only friend, for that matter. Because of this, my parents are constantly worried about me; they want nothing more, than for me to make some friends of my own. Liam obviously has lots of friends and a busy social life, so he isn't always around to keep me company. Personally, I don't know what all the fuss is about – having all this time to myself is glorious. I am able to teach myself new skills and languages, while still having time to enhance my existing skills of playing instruments and singing. Writing and singing songs has become a way for me to express myself, but I only do these things behind closed doors, as I am way too embarrassed to perform in front of anyone, including my own family. (Liam on the other hand has his own YouTube channel with hundreds of thousands of followers, doing cover songs and the odd original song I write for him. I help him with back-up vocals and instrumentals in the background, outside of the camera's view). In my spare time, I have also managed to do a lot of extra schoolwork and am essentially done most of my high school courses; I am pretty much ready to skip the rest of high school and follow my dream of applying to some prestigious med school somewhere in Europe… I have wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember and since it takes such a long time, why not get a head start!? Besides, I was sure that I would make plenty of friends once I start saving people lives. Now, I just had to spend part of my summer coming up with a plan to convince my parents to let me move to Europe… by myself, in order to pursue my goal of becoming a doctor… How hard could that be?!

One night we were eating supper, you could tell something was up because my parents could hardly contain their excitement… Liam and I looked at each other, shrugged and continued eating. Sure enough, after we had all finished, my mom told us that she and my dad had an announcement to make. We all sat at the dinner table while mom and dad argued about who was going to share the news – finally my mom agreed to be the one to tell us. "We are moving!" she yelled excitedly. Liam and I couldn't believe our ears – we had lived in the same house all our lives – where were we moving? And why suddenly did my parents want to move? "We are moving to Forks, Washington" my dad chimed in, "I got a great job offer as the new chief of Police and your mom and I decided to jump at the opportunity. I think a fresh start in a nice, small town will be good for all of us."

Well… I thought, I never liked Vancouver anyway and this may be the perfect opportunity for me to talk my parents into letting me move to Europe in order to pursue my future career instead. However, Liam was visibly upset; he had a great life here and "a lot more to lose" than anyone else in the family, so to speak. He got up and stormed off to his room. I quickly got up and followed him to make sure he was OK. I knocked on his door and he told me to come in. I sat on the edge of his bed and asked if he was alright. He looked at me and said that he was fine, but I knew he wasn't. He was fighting back tears and seeing him this way broke my heart; when he hurt, I hurt too. I gave him a hug and told him "don't worry, no matter what happens, you are going to be just fine… because you're awesome". We let go of each other and he cracked a slight smile at me. "What would I do without you" he said.

"Damnit", I thought. Why did he have to say that? How am I supposed to move to Europe to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor, when for the first time in his life, my brother needs _me_? We talked for a while longer and decided that we would both make the best of this situation. My brother told me that this would be a great chance for me to "reinvent" myself – He said "no one in Forks knows us, so you could potentially become whoever you want to be" … I guess in a way he was right, but I wasn't sure that it was going to be as easy as he thought it would be. Being introverted is not exactly a choice and trying to act extroverted was a difficult task for someone it didn't come naturally to; but we promised each other that we would both do our best and I wasn't about to let him down on this promise.

We spent most of July packing all our belongings into a shipping container. My brother took some time out of his busy social life to take me shopping for a new wardrobe that would reflect the person I wanted to portray when we moved to Forks. He strongly believed that if I dressed better, I would come off as more approachable and therefore had a better chance of making some friends. His theory definitely made sense, but I wasn't as thrilled about this experience as the rest of my family. I liked my dark coloured, baggy clothes and military style hats that hid my hair, but I went along with it, because it seemed to make him happy and take his mind off other things. Before I knew it, I had a closet full of trendier, more form fitting clothes like jeans and body-hugging shirts. My family thought it would be a good idea for me to donate all my old clothes to charity – I was hesitant about this at first, as these clothes were like my shield, but eventually I agreed to donate them. (I did, however, keep some of my favourite pieces I just couldn't part with… without anyone knowing).  
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_Sorry for the slow start... I wanted to make sure to develop my character fully as she is new to the game and certainly no Bella... but stay tuned for some twists and turns to follow... Expect some different POV's, __drama, __love triangles, broken hearts, adventures and mystery ahead!_

_Thanks for reading!_


	2. CH 2 - Unexpected Encounter

Finally, it was the end of July and moving day had arrived… everything was packed tightly into the shipping container and the moving company arrived bright and early at 8am to pick it up. There were a couple of remaining cartons that we put in the box of our pickup truck and off we went, on our first big family adventure into the unknown. My parents had high hopes, they always wanted the small-town life for themselves (and us), and now it was finally happening. I was beginning to feel anxious, even though I never _liked_ Vancouver, it was all I had ever known – it was a bit unnerving leaving my "comfort zone". But at least I was with my family and we would always have each other. We decided to drive to Forks, it wasn't_ that_ far from where we lived in Vancouver, just across the other side of Vancouver Island. We made a few stops along the way for food and pee breaks, but all in all we made good time. We left Vancouver around 8.30am and we managed to arrive in Forks by 4.00pm. We pulled up to an older looking two-storey house on a corner lot, that had a neighbour on the left side, (but was still fairly far down the road) and a forest behind and on the right side - which my parents proudly announced would be our new home. The shipping container with all our stuff was already there and the movers were busy unloading it all into the house.

We got out of the vehicle, Liam and I each grabbed a box from the back of the pickup truck and walked to the front door expecting the worst. When we stepped inside, however, we were pleasantly surprised that it had been completely renovated with an updated, modern style. We walked up the stairs to check out the bedrooms, there were three of them, one being the master of course – it was the largest room, facing the back yard with an enormous, four-piece master bathroom and a California style walk in closet. The other rooms seemed fairly equally sized, with their own, (smaller) three-piece bathrooms and (smaller) walk-in closets. These rooms were facing the main street in front of our house. I told Liam that he could have first pick, to which he happily obliged. He chose the one on the right closest to the neighbours' house, so I took the one on the left that was closer to the forest. It was kind of nice I guess; we each had our own bathroom and the rooms were _a lot_ bigger than our old rooms. Slowly but surely our furniture and belonging made it to the proper rooms and we all got busy unpacking. At around 7pm, my parents called out to Liam and me – they wanted to go out for supper before it was too late. We hopped into the truck and drove to town, to see what we could find. My mom spotted a small diner called "The Carver Café" which appeared to be open, so we decided to stop in and check it out. Walking into the diner was like a scene from a movie – everyone stopped what they were doing to look at us, for what seemed like an eternity – this was the kind of stuff I had nightmares about. I couldn't have felt more awkward, but our parents just continued to usher us in, until we got to an empty table at the back of the café. Shortly after finding a seat, everyone else in the diner seemingly went back to normal.

A friendly looking waitress came to our table and said "you folks must not be from around here" sporting a big smile on her face. "No, we're not" my dad answered smiling back. "We just moved here from Canada" my mother added. "Oh, Canada!" the waitress exclaimed! "We love Canadians here… don't we?!" she yelled across the room. Everyone looked our way again, some held up their glass as if to "cheers" us and they all nodded in agreement. Then she turned back around and apologized quietly, she figured this way people wouldn't be as curious about us, since tourists and newcomers to the town were very seldom. She then proceeded to take our orders and told us that she would be back with our food in a jiffy. Looking around the diner, there were still plenty of curious glances coming our way - the majority of customers looked to be a bit older and seemingly had not seen many biracial families I thought. We talked quietly among ourselves until the food arrived, then we couldn't help but dig in. We hadn't eaten much since earlier that day, so we were all quite hungry. The food was delicious and had a home cooked meal type feel to it. When we were finished, our waitress came back and asked if any of us wanted some pie for dessert, but we were all way too stuffed to have anything else. "Just the bill, please" my dad said, which the waitress brought back promptly. She said, "Well it was lovely to meet you folks, hope to see y'all again soon". We thanked her for her hospitality and asked her to pass our compliments on to the chef. As we walked to the front counter to pay, we still encountered many stares… they didn't seem mean or angry, just rather curious. My dad paid the girl at the counter and made sure to leave a good tip for the service, then we left.

Back at our new house, we continued unpacking and helped one another set up our beds, so we would have somewhere to sleep. At 11pm, I decided to call it a night. That night I had an odd dream, nothing like any dream I ever had before. I dreamt that I was walking through a beautiful forest, when suddenly I came across a wolf. But this was no ordinary wolf… it was much larger than a normal wolf and it just stood there looking at me. I approached it slowly, why, I do not know… Everything inside me screamed to run away, but somehow, I was drawn to it. The wolf didn't move an inch and I kept walking towards it while trying to avoid direct eye contact, as I didn't want to anger or spook it. I got within inches of it and reached out my hand to touch it when suddenly… I woke up.

I looked at my phone, it was just after 8am, but it looked grey and cloudy outside. I got up, got dressed and followed the alluring smell of coffee and bacon down the stairs, to the kitchen, where my mom was already busy making breakfast. I looked through the cupboards to get myself oriented and finally found what I was looking for - the mugs. I grabbed one, filled it with coffee and sat down on a bar stool at the island where my mom was cooking. "Good morning, sunshine" she quipped, "good morning" I replied groggy and still feeling tired. "How was your sleep?" she asked. "It was alright" I said, trying to muster up a smile. "It will get better, it's a new environment for you guys, so it will take some adjustment" she declared in her usual funny little accent. "I know, mom" I acknowledged. We continued to make small talk while she was cooking, but it wasn't long before my dad and brother got up and joined us for breakfast. My parents revealed another surprise at this point. They wanted to get us each our own car for being such troopers and moving away from everything we knew. Liam couldn't contain his excitement "Are you serious?!" he exclaimed – his eyes shot wide open. "Yes, we are. You kids are turning 16 soon and you have proven that you are both responsible, young adults now. There is a small car dealership on the edge of town; I figure we can go take a look there later today" my dad said. I hadn't seen Liam this excited in a while, it was nice to see him so happy. Me, on the other hand, I wasn't sure how to feel… I didn't know if I needed or even wanted a car, I much preferred walking or taking a bike.

We drove to the edge of town later that day, to check out the car dealership my dad was talking about. As my family was browsing the used cars on the lot, my eyes were drawn to the motorcycles on the other side of the lot. I knew my parents would never allow it, but I decided to wander off to have a gander anyway. As I was walking, there was one bike in particular that caught my attention. It was a jet black, Kawasaki Ninja – definitely one of my favourites. I got up close and personal, circling the bike and inspecting every detail of it. Suddenly, a voice right behind me enquired, "can I help you with anything?" I had been so caught up in my own thoughts, that I didn't even notice someone had been there, for who knows how long. Startled and embarrassed, I quickly turned around and said, "Oh, no, I'm sorry, I was just looking". The boy behind me couldn't have been much older than me. He was tanned, with long black hair (dare I say it… almost the same length as mine and the most radiant white smile I had ever seen. "No need to apologize" he said, "you are free to look as much as you like". At this point I knew I was blushing; I could feel my cheeks burning up and I quickly turned my gaze towards the ground realizing that I had been staring at him for quite a while… "You are not from around here" he implored.

I shook my head. "No" I replied softly, eyes still glued to the floor. "Did you lose something?" he asked, sounding puzzled while scouring the floor. "Ummm… no, sorry" I said looking back up at him. "You sure like to apologize" he quipped light heartedly, "you really don't need to. Where are you from?" he asked. "Vancouver… Canada" I answered. "Oh cool! I have never been; but I hear it's quite nice" he said. "Yeah, it's alright", I responded trying to sound enthusiastic. "How long are you in town for?" he continued. "We just moved here actually" I responded. "Really? That's cool, do you know anyone around here?" he probed. "No, just my family over there" I said while turning around to point at them. That is when I realized they weren't even looking at cars anymore, they were all watching my interaction with this boy instead. "They seem nice!" He said smiling and waving to my family, as they waved back excitedly.

Boy: "Well, if you want, I could show you around town sometime?"

Me: "Yeah, definitely, that would be really great".

Boy: "How can I get a hold of you? Do you have Facebook?"

Me: "Umm no, I don't have any social media unfortunately… "

Boy: "That's OK, we will just have to do this the old-fashioned way then, do you have a phone number?"

Me: "Yeah, it's a Canadian number, but I will be switching it over soon."

Boy pulls out his phone, "That's alright… well let's start with your name…"

Me: "S-E-R-E-N-I-T-Y"

Boy looks up at me and says, "Serenity - that is a really beautiful name".

Me: "Thank you" I whispered quietly. "And my number is 1-604-283-8031".

At this point, he hits the call button on his phone and my phone starts buzzing in my pocket. I pull it out and he says "now you have my number too. I am Jacob by the way." He holds out his hand to shake mine and I reciprocate." Well, I better get back over there, but I look forward to you showing me around".

Jacob: "Me too, I will be seeing you soon".

I walked back to my family, trying to contain my excitement about the interaction I just had with Jacob.

It appeared that my brother had some exciting news of his own… he had found a car that he liked; a Chevy Equinox that he was going to take for a quick test drive. He asked my mom and I if we wanted to come along, but I shook my head "no" while grabbing my mom's arm to drag her for a girl talk, leaving my dad and brother to go for their test drive with the salesman. My mom immediately started peppering me with questions, "Who was that? What's his name? How old is he? What did you talk about?... I told her what I knew so far at this point, which evidently wasn't much, just his name really and that he promised to show me around town some time. I couldn't help but realize that this may actually have been the longest conversation I've ever had with someone outside of my family in a very long time… and it was with a handsome boy to boot. Maybe my brothers' theory wasn't so crazy after all… Did the clothes I was wearing today make me seem more approachable? I felt like this would never have happened in my old wardrobe.

My mom and I decided to sit on a nearby bench to wait for my dad and Liam to return from the test drive, both of us giddy with excitement about what had just transpired. She asked me what my plan was moving forward; if I was going to text Jacob first etc. and I started to feel slightly overwhelmed. I had no idea what the next step would be or if I should be the first to contact him. We decided that this might be a better question for someone more experienced… which in this case was none other than my brother, Liam. My brother, my dad and the salesman returned about ten minutes later and it looked as though Liam was quite pleased with the test drive. His grin extended from one ear to the other as he exited the car. The salesman took the keys and headed back inside the dealership. My mom and I joined Liam and Dad to see what the verdict was. "Looks like we are buying a car today" My dad said satisfied. "You and I will need to sign some paperwork inside, _mein schatz1 _" he continued as he put his arm around my mom and lead her toward the dealership.

After my parents left, I finally had a chance to ask Liam about what I should do; but before I could even say anything, Liam started "So, who was that guy you were talking to?" … "Jacob" I said. "I think he works here. He just asked if he could help me with anything, while I was browsing the motorcycle section". "What's he like? Did he seem nice?" my brother prodded. "Yeah, I think so… I told him we just moved here, and he said that he would show me around town sometime". "Like a date?" my brother asked seeming almost concerned. "I don't think so… I think he is just trying to be friendly" I replied. "So, what do you think I should do? Should I text him first or should I wait for him to text me? I asked coyly. "Well, that depends…" my brother said, do you want to play "the game" and chance ruining any possibility of a friendship or relationship moving forward **_OR_** do you want to start a friendship with this guy based on honesty and openness from the get-go?!" "No games, drama or BS" I replied quickly and confidently. "Then, message him first", my brother said… maybe later tonight or tomorrow morning, to see when he's free to show you around town. "O.K, that sounds great! I will text him sometime tomorrow morning" I said. I gave Liam a hug and thanked him for his guidance. "Anything for you, little sis" he said grinning.

Our parents emerged from the dealership smiling. They shook the salesman's hand and walked back towards us. "Well, we may have just made our first friends in Forks" my dad announced proudly. "Turns out that the boy you were talking to earlier is the son of our salesman, Billy, and he has invited all of us down to the reservation for a _fish fry_ this weekend".

Liam was allowed to drive his new car off the lot, and I drove with him as my parents wanted to go to town for some groceries for supper. We arrived at home and Liam got busy updating his social media with pictures of his new car.

At supper, my dad had a moment of realization. He turned to me and said, "In all the excitement today with finding Liam a car, I forgot to ask if any cars on the lot caught your eye?" I responded that I didn't really have a good chance to look, but that I wasn't picky and would settle for anything that would be capable of getting me from point A to B. My parents smiled at me, then each other, knowing that they had raised their "little" girl into a responsible and practical young woman that was not too concerned with material things.

"Ok, well maybe we can talk to Billy this weekend, to see if he has something for you as well." My dad said relieved.

*1. Mein Schatz = German for "My Treasure"


	3. Chapter 2 - Jacob's POV

It was just a regular Sunday morning… I got out of bed and got ready to go help my dad at the car dealership, as I did every day in the summer and every weekend during the school year. When we got there, I got working on fixing a customer's vehicle that was dropped off just before closing yesterday. It was having transmission problems and I needed to figure out if it needed to be replaced completely or not.

Time was flying by today; it must have been around 1pm already; I looked up at the clock on the wall for confirmation but instead, I saw something out of the corner of my eye in the lot outside of the shop; I decided to go investigate. I walked out of the garage... and saw someone kneeling down by one of the bikes - he was wearing a military style hat and a baggy oversized sweater. Definitely wasn't anyone I recognized… didn't help that they had their back turned towards me, but he didnt seem very big, so I could probably take him if I needed to. I watched for another minute to see if this person would turn around, but they didn't. Finally, I decided it was time to say something.

I cleared my throat loudly... "Can I help you with anything?! I said. I must have startled them… they sprung up and turned around.

I couldn't believe my eyes, it wasn't a guy at all... it was a girl, probably around my age, but I had never seen her before… She was beyond beautiful. "Where was she from?" I wondered.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry, I was just looking" she said, looking up at me, with mesmerizingly blue eyes, biting her lower lip nervously.

"Oh... No need to apologize, you are free to look as much as you like…" I said.

She finally turned her eyes away from me, breaking the intense gaze we shared the last few seconds. I didn't want her to run off, so I decided to try and keep the conversation going.

"You are not from around here" I implored.

She shook her head and said "no".

At this point she had been staring at the ground for a while... I didnt know how to keep the conversation going, so I just said the first thing that came to mind.

"Ummm… Did you lose something? I asked in an effort to coax her to talk.

"Ummm… no, sorry" she apologized, while looking up at me with those intense eyes of hers.

"You sure like to apologize" I said trying to joke, "you really don't need to. So, where are you from?" I continued.

"We just moved here actually" she responded.

"Really? That's cool, do you know anyone around here?" I continued probing.

"No, just my family over there" she said turning around to point at some people on the other side of the lot, who were seemingly watching our interaction quite closely.

"They seem nice!" I said putting on my best, most innocent smile I could muster and waving to her family, as they waved back.

**Me**: "Well, if you want, I could show you around town sometime?"

**Pretty Girl**: "Yeah, definitely; that would be really great, actually!".

**Me**: "How can I get a hold of you? Do you have Facebook?"

**Pretty Girl**: "Umm no, I don't have any social media unfortunately… "

_Oh no, who doesn't have social media now a days? Is she trying to shoot me down? I thought… but then I had an idea._

**Me**: "That's OK, we will just have to do this the old-fashioned way then, do you have a phone number?"

**Pretty Girl**: "Yeah, it's a Canadian number, but I will be switching it over soon."

I pulled out my phone, "That's alright… well let's start with your name…"

**Pretty Girl**: "Serenity, S-E-R-E-N-I-T-Y"

At this point I looked up at her to tell her that she had a pretty name… I wanted to say that it couldn't suit her more. There was definitely a calm about her that I couldn't quite explain, but I didn't want to come across weird, so I left it alone for now.

**Serenity**: "Thank you" she whispered quietly. "Oh, and my number is 1-604-283-8031".

At this point, I hit the call button on my phone and was happy to hear her phone start buzzing in her pocket. It was indeed her real number, I thought excitedly. She pulled it out and showed me. I said "now you have my number too. I am Jacob by the way." I held out my hand to shake hers and she reciprocated.

"Well, I better get back over there... but I look forward to you showing me around", she said.

**Me**: "Me too, I will be seeing you soon" I said out loud… "I hope…" I thought to myself.

The day dragged by slowly, I kept my phone close by in case Serenity texted… but she didn't. I spent the rest of that day staring at my phone, trying to decide whether to text her or not.

"I should text her… No, maybe I should wait… I don't want her to think I am desperate or clingy… But maybe she likes someone who shows initiative… damnit, I don't know what to do…" I thought.

That night I got back to the res and ran into my buddies Quil and Embry. I told them about what happened that day at the dealership. I told them that I had met the most amazing girl… and that she had agreed to be my girlfriend… ok, so I may have exaggerated a little, but they didn't know that. They probably wouldn't even meet her anytime soon anyways, so I had plenty of time to ask her out for real, before then.

I went to bed that night, thinking about Serenity, all I could think about were those intense blue eyes of hers and how she looked up at me. I felt butterflies in my stomach, and I couldn't stop smiling… I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what it would be like to hold her… or dare I say it… kiss her on those beautiful lips.


	4. CH 3 - Fish Fry, Friendship & Bad News

The next morning, I decided to text Jacob.

"Hey! How's it going? 😊" I wrote, while taking a deep breath and hitting send.

Then the hard part… waiting for a response.

But in just a few short seconds my phone vibrated. I looked at the screen. It was a reply from Jacob.

"Hey you! I was just about to text you the same thing! :p" he wrote.

"It's going great… It was really nice to meet you yesterday" I typed back.

"It was nice to meet you too! So, when are you free to see the town?" He enquired.

"Anytime you are" I replied.

"How about Friday afternoon before the fish fry? I can pick you up if you'd like?"

"Sure! That would be great! What time?"

"How about 3pm?"

"That works, see you Friday at 3" I said. I sent him my address and let out a big sigh of relief.

Now, to consult with Liam as to what I should wear for such a "momentous" occasion.

I walked to Liam's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in" he said. I walked in to find him laying on his bed with a stressed look on his face.

"Hey… what's up?" I asked, trying not to sound too inquisitive.

"Oh nothing", he said putting on a smile.

"Are you sure?" I enquired a little more concern in my voice this time… "You know you can tell me anything, right!?".

"Yeah, it's nothing" he assured me. "What's up with you?" He countered.

"Well, I was hoping you could give me some more wardrobe advice… I am meeting with Jacob on Friday, before the fish fry and I don't really know what I should wear"

"That's awesome sis, I'm glad you are making friends… Now, let's go look in your closet, to see what we can put you in" he said grinning.

We walked to my room and Liam went to work in my closet, picking a suitable outfit.

"Here" he said handing me a brightly coloured V-neck t-shirt and a pair of "cut off" jean shorts.

I looked at the outfit, then looked at Liam and asked, "are you sure?"

"Yes, never been more sure" he laughed. "The weather is supposed to be gorgeous and warm, you might as well take advantage of it, there won't be many of those here" he finished.

"I suppose" I said, smiling at him. I trusted that he wouldn't steer me wrong.

He then proceeded to ask if I would help him in return, with some new cover song requests, he had recently received on his YouTube channel.

"Sure, why not" I said.

And off we went, to the basement, which my parents had renovated before we moved there, to include a small, but fully equipped and functional recording studio for us. We got busy working on the cover songs, deciding what instruments to play and trying different vocal arrangements, before we started recording the final takes to upload.

The rest of the day and week just flew by.

I woke up excited on Friday morning. I took a quick shower and got dressed in what my brother had picked out for me. I put my hair up into a messy bun, then headed downstairs for breakfast.

My mom looked at me surprised. She had never seen me in such an outfit. She smiled an asked if my choice in outfit had anything to do with Jacob. I filled her in that I was meeting up with him this afternoon before the fish fry, so he could show me the town. She gave me a hug and said "you know, I couldn't be happier that you are finally making friends".

"Me too" I said hugging her back.

Three o'clock came around fast and before I knew it, there was a loud knock on our front door. I started feeling nervous as I walked towards the door to answer it. I opened the door and there he was. He was wearing a black v-neck t-shirt and jeans. This was the first time I realized how buff he was. Last time I saw him, he was wearing a baggy jacket, so you couldn't tell.

"Hey Jacob" I said smiling.

"Hey, YOU!..." he said staring at me seemingly dazed. "Are you ready to explore the town?" he added quickly, seemingly catching himself in the act.

"For sure" I said enthusiastically, "just gotta get my shoes on, come on in…" My parents came to the door to say hi.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Steele… Serenity and I will meet you both on the reservation later for the fish fry… Only if that's OK with you, of course?!..."

"Hi Jacob, of course" My parents responded. "We will see you guys there, later! Have fun you two!"

Jacob: "Oh… and don't worry, I will take good care of her" he finished nervously.

Jacob and I left. He was driving an older, red pick up truck.

"Nice truck" I said.

"Thank you. I rebuilt the engine myself" he replied proudly.

We got in and off we went to explore the town… When we got there, we found a spot to park and decided to walk. We stopped at an ice cream stand. Jacob bought us both an ice cream cone. He started asking me personal questions… He asked about my hobbies, what grade I was in, what my plans were after high school, etc… And I asked him the same in return.

I found out that he was just a few months younger than me and that his hobbies included fixing up cars and motorbikes, which I found fascinating. He was planning on working at his dad's car dealership full time after school, to help out. We kept walking and talking, but before we knew it, it was already 6.30 pm and we decided that it would be best to get to the reservation, as the fish fry had surely started by now.

We headed back to the truck and drove to the reservation. When we got there, my mom and dad were already there, but I didn't see my brother anywhere… I asked my parents where Liam was, and they said he decided to sit this one out because he wasn't feeling well. I accepted this answer, despite feeling as though they were hiding something from me. I figured that it would probably be easier if I just questioned Liam, myself, later. Jacob held out his arm and asked me if I wanted to meet some of his friends and family. I put my hand around his arm and he led me to a campfire nearby.

"Hey guys, this is Serenity" he said proudly. "Serenity, these are my buddies Quil and Embry" he said pointing at each respectively.

**Quil**: "So, it is true! She does exist!" he quipped while him and Embry were both elbowing each other and grinning.

**Me**: "Ummm…Yup" I said awkwardly while looking down trying to avoid blushing.

**Quil**: "So what about the part that you are his girlfriend?" he asked, still grinning.

I looked at Jacob, dumbfounded… I wasn't quite sure what to say next…"Uhhh…" I started, then Jacob quickly chimed in… "Actually guys, remember, I said that she's a girl and a friend…?".

**Quil**: "I don't remember him making that distinction before" he said to Embry as they were both giggling.

At this point I figured, I better rescue Jacob from his friends…

**Me**: "So, I guess you guys both have girlfriends?" I asked in a slightly sarcastic manner.

**Jacob** _(laughing)_: "Yeah right… Quil took his cousin to prom.

Embry chuckled at this also. Then Quil and Jacob started play fighting. I was just happy that this awkward conversation was finally over. All four of us hung out by the fire - laughing, joking, getting to know each other and telling each other stories. It was getting dark and a bit chilly at this point - Jacob must have noticed me shivering, he grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders. It was getting late and I knew it wouldn't be long before it was time to go. Eventually, my parents found and informed me that it was time to go. Then they left to wait for me in the car. I couldn't believe how sad I was that this day was already over. I finally understood for the first time, that old saying… "Time flies when you're having fun". I quickly waved goodbye to my new friends Embry and Quil and Jacob got up to walk me to my parent's car.

**Jacob**: "I had a really great time with you today"

**Me**: "Yeah, me too. Thanks again for showing me around town. It was really nice meeting your family and friends".

**Jacob**: "Yeah no problem… We will definitely have to hang out again sometime soon"

**Me**: "Yeah, for sure!"

He held his arms open, signalling a hug… I had never given someone outside my family a hug, but I didn't want to leave him hanging, so I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around his neck. He pulled me in close wrapping his strong arms around my back while lifting me slightly off the floor. This may have been the "warmest" hug I had ever felt… Time seemed to stop and at that moment I wished that it would never end, but my feet soon touched the ground and I released Jacobs neck from my embrace.

**Me** _(whispering)_: "Bye Jake"

**Jacob** _(also whispering)_: "Bye Serenity".

I got into the car and we left. I was looking out of the window and up at the stars as we were driving home… My mind started wandering at this point. "You don't really see stars in Vancouver… This has been better than anything I could have ever imagined… I wonder what the rest of this year will bring".

My parents interrupted my thoughts… "So? How was your day, sweetie?" they asked.

"It was great" I said smiling. I told them about the places I saw and the people I met at the reservation.

We arrived home and I went straight upstairs to check on Liam. In my excitement I forgot to knock and just barged into his room. He was playing video games on his TV. He looked at me a bit startled "Umm… did you forget how to knock?!" he asked jokingly. "What if I had just got out of the shower or something?" he continued.

"Eww… I'm sorry, I'll never forget again!" I laughed… "I guess I was just excited, and I couldn't wait to tell you about my day… By the way, where were you today?!" I asked grabbing a pillow off his bed and hitting him.

He turned off his x-box and turned towards me. "You first" he said smiling.

I told him about exploring the town and meeting some of Jacobs friends on the reservation.

"Now… your turn" I said.

He lowered his head and let out a big sigh. "I have some bad news" he said quietly…

"What is it?" I asked concerned.

"I got a phone call from my hockey coach the other day. He said that he has been getting tonnes of phone calls from NHL scouts asking about me."

"Ummm… How exactly is that bad news?!" I answered while hugging him excitedly.

"Well… I talked to mom and dad about it today… I am going to have to move back to Vancouver and stay with one of my teammates for the season... so I won't be here when school starts and I am not even sure when I will be able to come visit you guys".

I finally understood what was happening… I wanted to cry… I had never been apart from Liam. He was more than just my twin brother. He was my best friend and protector… How was I going to get through school without him? I felt a panic attack coming on, my heart was racing and I started breathing really fast. My brother hugged me tightly and tried to calm me down. "I won't go… I will stay if you want me to" he said. I felt terrible. I couldn't let my brother give up a chance to fulfill his dreams because of my selfish need for his presence in order to feel safe.

"NO!" I said quickly, getting up and pulling away from his embrace. "You have to go! This is your dream and your future we are talking about here… Promise me that you will go" I said, tears streaming down my face. My heart was breaking, I couldn't believe that he would even consider not taking this opportunity because of me. "I will be alright" I finished.

He stood up, tears gleaming in his blue eyes. He put his arms around me and pulled me close. "I'm so sorry sis… I never saw this coming" he said. "It's ok… It's not your fault that you're so damn good at hockey" I said trying to lighten up the mood a little. We looked at each other and smiled.

Everything would work out. I promised that I would visit him any chance I got, and he promised me the same in return.


	5. Chapter 3 - Jacob's POV

I must have fallen asleep thinking about Serenity. I woke up the next morning and checked my phone for messages… But nothing. My heart sank… "I hope I didn't scare her off", I thought. Suddenly my phone starts buzzing… I looked at the screen… "It's her! I can't believe she texted me!" I thought.

"Hey! How's it going? " said the text.

I didn't hesitate to send my reply.

"Hey you! I was just about to text you the same thing! :p" I wrote back.

"It's going great… It was really nice to meet you yesterday" the message read.

"It was nice to meet you too! So, when are you free to see the town?" I enquired.

"Anytime you are" she replied almost seeming playful.

I thought for a minute…

I typed out "How about Friday afternoon before the fish fry? I can pick you up if you'd like?" and hit send before I could change my mind.

I hope she says yes, I thought… Then my phone buzzed again…

"Sure! That would be great! What time?"

Oh, my gawd, I can't believe it… she said yes!

"How about 3pm?" I responded quickly.

"That works, see you Friday at 3" she said then she sent me her address.

I couldn't wait to see her again… I started planning our date (if you can call it that) …

Then I got ready to go to work.

The week dragged by slowly… I tried to hang out with my friends as much as possible to keep myself occupied. Serenity and I texted a little bit throughout the week, but I was eager to talk to her again in person.

Friday finally came around and I spent most of my morning helping my dad at the dealership but I left at noon, so I could go home and get cleaned up before meeting Serenity. The last thing I wanted was to look like a grease-monkey when I picked her up.

It was 2.59pm as I stood at Serenity's front door. "Too late to run now" I thought as I knocked on their door loudly.

The door opened and there she was – wearing short jean shorts that hugged her curves and showed of some amazingly toned legs, paired with a v-neck shirt like mine (except it was yellow while mine was black). She wasn't wearing a hat today either, she had her long black hair tied back in a bun. She looked amazing, I couldn't take my eyes off her.

"Hey Jacob" she said smiling (for the first time) and looking up at me.

"Hey, YOU!..." I said dazed. "Ummm… Are you ready to explore the town?" I added quickly, catching myself.

"For sure" she said enthusiastically, "just gotta get my shoes on, come on in…" Her parents started walking towards me. My dad said that Serenity's dad was the new chief of police, so to make sure I was on my best behaviour.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Steele… Serenity and I will meet you both on the reservation later for the fish fry… I mean, only if that's OK with you, of course?!..."

"Hi Jacob, of course! We will see you guys there, later! Have fun you two!" her parents responded, sounding surprisingly easy going.

**Me**: "Oh… and don't worry, I will take good care of her" I finished nervously.

Serenity and I left. I was driving my pickup truck – It was nothing fancy but better than nothing.

"Nice truck" she said.

"Thank you. I rebuilt the engine myself" I told her proudly.

When we got to town, we found somewhere to park – I thought this way, I wouldn't have to worry about paying attention to the road while trying to talk to her.

While walking, we came across an ice cream stand. I thought that this might be a good ice breaker – no pun intended… so I bought us both an ice cream cone while we continued walking.

"So, what do you usually do for fun?" I asked.

"I like to play music…" she said shyly.

"Oh wow, that's cool – wait, by play music, do you mean like, play instruments?" I asked.

"Yes, I play piano and acoustic guitar" she answered.

"That's really great. How long have you been playing?"

"Since I was about three" she said.

"Crazy, you must be really good?!"

"I guess I'm alright…" she said shrugging her shoulders at me.

She seemed super humble and shy. I wasn't sure why… How could a girl like her be so restrained? I wanted to know everything about her, and I was determined to bring her out of her shell.

"So, what grade are you going into?" I asked.

"I'll be going into Grade 11… how about you?" she asked.

"Same" I said. I was excited to know that we were probably in the same age range… "when is your birthday? I solicited.

"September 13th" she said.

"_Almost four months to the day, older than me …" I thought._

"Any big plans after you're done high school?" I continued to probe.

"I would like to go to med school" she replied.

"Wow, you must be super smart!" I said, looking at her. She looked at the ground and shrugged…

"Let me guess… you're alright?!" I said.

She looked up and smiled at me… "yup, exactly" she said.

We chuckled and continued walking and talking about a bunch of other things. I finally checked the time and realized it was already 6.30pm.

We started heading back to my truck and drove to the reservation. When we got there, her mom and dad were already there… We quickly said hi to them before I asked Serenity if she wanted to meet my friends. I put out my arm like an old school gentleman and to my surprise she wrapped her arm around mine.

We started walking towards the campfire where I saw Quil and Embry.

"Hey guys, this is Serenity" I said boldly. "Serenity, these are my buddies Quil and Embry" I told her while pointing at each respectively.

**Quil**: "So, it's true! She does exist!" he quipped while him and Embry were both elbowing each other and grinning.

**Serenity**: "Ummm…Yup" she said timidly.

**Quil**: "So what about the part where you are his girlfriend?" he asked her still grinning.

_Oh, damn… I forgot about that part… Serenity looked at me with those big blue eyes… "Uhhh…" she started, then I quickly chimed in… "Actually guys, remember, I said that she's a girl and a friend…?"._

**Quil**: "I don't remember him making that distinction before" he said to Embry as they were both giggling.

I was so embarrassed, I can't believe I forgot…To my surprise, Serenity didn't make a big deal out of this, instead I heard her say: "So, I guess you guys both have girlfriends?" sounding slightly sarcastic.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah right… Quil took his cousin to prom" I quipped.

Then the four of us hung out by the fire – Embry, Quil and I were laughing, joking and trying to get to know Serenity. I could tell that both Embry and Quil were starting to have a crush on her, so I made sure not to leave her alone with them at all. It was getting dark and a bit chilly at this point - I noticed Serenity shivering, so I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. It was getting late and eventually, Serenity's parents found and informed her that it was time to go. Then they left to wait for her in the car.

She waved goodbye to Embry and Quil and I got up to walk her to her parent's car.

**Me**: "I had a really great time with you today"

**Serenity**: "Yeah, me too. Thanks again for showing me around town. It was really nice meeting your family and friends".

**Me**: "Yeah no problem… We will definitely have to hang out again sometime soon."

**Serenity**: "Yeah, for sure!"

I held my arms open for a hug… she looked hesitant but then took a step forward and wrapped her arms around my neck. I pulled her in close wrapping my arms around her back while lifting her up off the floor slightly. I took a deep breath in, she smelled so good… Like a garden full of lavender flowers. I wished that this moment would never end, but eventually I eased up, until her feet touched the ground and she released me from her embrace.

**Serenity** (whispering): "Bye Jake"

**Me** (also whispering): "Bye Serenity".

I stood there watching her car drive off into the distance. I think I was falling in love with her…


	6. CH 4 - End of Summer

**Author's Notes:**

**_Shout out to all my readers so far!_**

**_Without you, there would be no reason to continue writing. So thank you all, for your continued support! _**

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I woke up to a rainy, grey Sunday morning – the weather seemingly reflected my mood. I got out of bed and sat down on the nook in my room's bay window, looking out into the abyss, while playing guitar and reminiscing about my first week in Forks. It had certainly been an eventful one – I met Jacob a week ago today; he showed me the town, as well as the reservation he lives on, and even introduced me to some of his friends and family members at the fish fry, a couple of days ago. Last, but not least, my brother dropped that bombshell of him moving back to Vancouver, on me… but I was starting to come to terms with this - I felt comforted by the fact that I knew at least _some_ other people, whom I would be going to school with. Since my brother wouldn't be here to go to school with me, I contemplated asking Jacob if he and I could go to school together (at least on the first day), so he could show me around… but I figured that I had a few weeks before school started, and I didn't want to add "stressing the details" to my list, right this minute. Jacob and I had been texting quite a bit since getting together on Friday. We had a lot in common and were (what I would consider) becoming really good friends. I was excited to hang out with him again, but as it stood, we didn't have any plans yet. This didn't bother me too much though, since I wanted to spend as much time with Liam as possible, before he left to go back to Vancouver. After a couple of hours, I decided that I had had enough of moping. I got myself ready and went to find Liam. I checked his room first, then the main floor and finally found him finishing something up in the recording studio in the basement. He came out when he saw me.

"Are you busy?" I asked.

"Nope, just finished" he said.

**Me**: "Cool, cool… do you want to go to town with me? I was thinking that you and I could grab some lunch and maybe catch a movie?"

**Liam**: "Sure, let's go!" he said, racing up the stairs.

We put on our jackets and ran to his car, through the pouring rain. We arrived at _The Carver Café_, several "carpool karaoke" songs later. The rain had died down at this point and it was just a bit cloudy now. As we walked towards the café, the door swung open, and a couple of high school jocks wearing football jackets walked out. My eyes were glued firmly down at the ground as I was walking. My shoulder accidentally brushed up against one of them as I reached for the door; I looked up and made eye contact for a brief second before looking back down. I held the door and allowed my brother to walk in ahead of me, before following him inside. We quickly found a table and sat down. We ended up with the same waitress as the night we first arrived in Forks.

"Oh! Well would you look who's back?!" she said in the same friendly tone we had come to expect from her. "What will it be today? She asked.

Liam and I ordered, then sat there talking, deciding what movie we should go to.

We had just settled on the movie "Crosshairs", when food arrived at our table.

"Thank you" Liam and I said simultaneously.

"You're both welcome" she said, and she walked away to help other customers.

We finished eating and got up to leave… "See y'all next time" Cora yelled after us.

"Yeah, thanks again!" I said, making my way towards the door. "I'm sure we'll see you again soon" Liam chimed in. Next stop was the theatre to watch our movie. After it was over, we returned home and hung out some more. Liam and I had prepared supper since my mom decided to go back to work as a nurse. She said that, since Liam and I were self-sufficient, responsible teens now, and not little kids who need their mom 24/7 anymore, she wanted to go back to work. My dad had also started his new job as chief of police. Later that evening our parents got home from work and we all sat down together to eat.

"How was your day, honey?" my mom solicited my dad.

"It was… interesting… and different…" my dad said.

"How so?" my mom asked puzzled.

"Well… if you really want to know... a security guard at the mill was killed by some kind of animal" He said gloomily.

"An animal?" I reiterated.

"Yes… we are not in Vancouver anymore kids" he declared.

We continued eating supper quietly. After we finished Liam and I went to our rooms while my mom and dad talked in the kitchen – presumably discussing the incident at the mill.

The next couple of weeks flew by quickly, but I managed to spend lots of time with Liam and still make time for my new friend, Jacob. We hung out the odd afternoons, going for walks around town or the reservation, after he finished work and we would talk about all kinds of things. Our friendship really blossomed, and he soon became a close confidante.

Before I knew it, there was only a week left before school started. I was helping Liam pack bags of clothes and hockey stuff into his car. He wanted to make sure that he had a few days to settle in at his buddy's place in Vancouver, before school started. My parents took a few days off to drive him there and catch up with some friends in the process. Liam wouldn't need his car in Vancouver, so my parents decided it would be best if they brought it back to Forks with them. Liam and I hugged, I was holding back tears the best I could, but this was much harder than I ever could have expected. "Don't worry, you'll be alright; you're the toughest person I know" Liam said to me as he got into the car. "I will visit any chance I get… I promise".

"Yeah… I'll be OK" I said, mustering up a smile.

"Have fun with Jacob today" my mom said.

"Not too much fun though…" my dad added clearing his throat.

"Dad! Ewww… we're just friends!" I said, embarrassed and appalled by his implications.

My mom and Liam were laughing loudly at the situation.

"I'm glad that you guys think it's funny…" I said sarcastically.

"Alright, I love you guys, have a safe drive" I told my family and off they went.

Once back in the house, I decided to go to the basement and do some dancing which I didn't get a chance to do very often (due to my performance anxiety and my mom's insistence to watch). But, since I had the house to myself (and I didn't have to worry about my mom sneaking down to watch me) – I turned up some tunes and started dancing in front of the mirror wall my parents had installed for this purpose. I had worked up quite a sweat, but I figured I had lots of time to take a shower before Jake showed up. I told him what was happening and he offered to come by to help take my mind off Liam leaving. I didn't realize how fast time flew by; I heard the doorbell ring, so I turned off the music and looked at the time – I couldn't believe it was already 12.45pm – I had been dancing for over 3 hours already.

I ran upstairs to open the door.

"Hey Jake! Come on in" I said, still drenched in sweat.

He looked at me wide eyed… "Heeeeyy…" he said, kind of drawn out.

"Umm… Sorry, I probably reek… I was just… uhhh…" (I didn't want to tell him I was dancing…)

"Working out?" He interrupted.

"**YES**! Working out…" I said – "phew…" I thought.

**Me:** "Let me give you a tour of the house"

**Jacob:** "Sure!"

He seemed a bit flustered today… "Is something wrong?" I asked concerned.

I gave him a tour of the upstairs, then went back down to the main floor and ended the tour in the living room.

"Oh… nothing" he said quickly, looking up from the floor and straight into my eyes.

"Ok…" I said... I didn't want to press the issue.

**Me**: "I am just going to take a quick shower, then meet you back down here"

"Ok" he said, sitting down on the couch.

"Make yourself at home… I trust you know how to work a TV remote" I quipped, as I walked away.

He turned around to look at me and laughed… "Funny! I see you got jokes!" he said turning on the TV.

I ran upstairs, took a quick shower and got dressed, before heading back downstairs to the living room… "So, what's new?" I asked Jake, as I fixed my hair back up and into a bun.

He started telling me a funny story about Embry and Quil – we laughed for a minute, then he looked at me almost mystified.

"Hmmm… so how come you didn't go with your family to drop Liam off? You didn't wanna see any of your friends back there? Don't you miss them?"

I finally let down my guard and decided to explain everything to him.

"Well… I have never been a fan of Vancouver and I don't really have any friends there to be honest… The only friends I have, are my brother… and now, you" I said despondently, explaining to him the loneliness and bullying I endured growing up.

"What? How?" Jacob said in disbelief, after listening to me intently. "You are such a smart… and kind… and funny… and just overall beautiful person" he continued; "how did people not want to be friends with you? How could anyone want to be mean to **_you_**?!" he finished, seemingly getting angry.

"I'm not sure… But it doesn't really bother me anymore" I said perking up, in an effort to calm him down. "Because... I have a friend like you now and that's all that matters" I said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, I guess you do" he said, smiling back and side hugging me.

"Hey, that reminds me… I was wondering if you wanted to ride to school together next Monday?" I asked hopefully.

"I… I don't go to the regular school… I go to school on the reservation" he said apologetically.

"Oh… right… right… makes sense. That's too bad, it would have been nice to know at least one person" I replied.

"I'm sorry… I would have loved to have gone to school with you" he said.

"No worries, it's all good…" I assured him.

My parents called me a little while later to let me know that they finished dropping Liam off in Vancouver and that they decided to stay the night at their friend's place since they offered up their guest room.

"My first night home alone in Forks…" I thought to myself.

It was around 4pm and I figured it was time to make supper for myself and Jacob. I decided to make Spaghetti and meatballs and I served up a couple of plates.

"I hope you're hungry" I said, handing him a plate.

"Wow, this looks and smells amazing" he said, taking a deep breath in through the nose. "How'd you learn to cook like this? It looks like something you'd get in a restaurant" he complimented.

"Thank you… I had a lot of free time to learn" I replied.

"Mmmmhh… tastes as good as it looks" he said after taking a few bites.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it didn't disappoint" I said.

We finished supper and decided we had time for a movie. We picked one out of our collection and sat side by side on the couch to watch. Halfway through the movie though, I got super tired and decided to rest my eyes, just for a minute. I closed them but must have fallen asleep because next time I opened my eyes, my head was laying on Jacob's shoulder as the credits were rolling. I quickly propped myself into an upright position, "I'm so sorry… I can't believe I fell asleep" I said, slightly embarrassed.

"Don't worry, you didn't miss much" he said smiling. "I should probably get going though, it's getting late and my dad will be wondering where I am."

"Oh yeah, of course" I said, as we both stood up and headed toward the front door.

"Thanks for supper" he said, once we got to the door.

"Any time" I replied smiling.

He pulled me in close for a hug, wrapping his muscular arms around my waist; He was a bit taller than me, so I was on my tippy toes, reaching my arms around his neck. He was always so warm, and he had this habit of smelling really great, every time we hung out. He released me slowly, looking down at me sternly… I didn't quite know what to make of it.

"Have a good night" I whispered.

"You too" he said, turning around to walk to his truck. I waited at the door to wave to him, as he drove past me, then I closed and locked the door. I walked around the house to make sure that all the other windows and doors on the main level were also shut, before heading upstairs to my room where I turned on my night light and got ready for bed. I got under my blankets, turned off the light and drifted off to sleep slowly, while wondering what was up with Jake today.

The next morning, I woke up feeling anxious. It finally hit me, that I would be going to school all alone, not knowing anybody. I laid in bed for a while thinking about this, before I finally got up and headed downstairs to clean up my dishes and mess from the night before. When I finished, I went upstairs to take a shower and get ready. As I was getting dressed, my phone rang - it was Jacob. He just wanted to check up on me and make sure I was alright after my first night home alone. We talked for a while, but he sounded disconnected… I asked him again if there was something wrong, but he insisted that it was nothing. My parents arrived home later that afternoon, tired from their long drive.

The rest of the week flew by and before I knew it, it was Sunday night. Tomorrow was my first day at a new school. I was scared and nervous – but trying hard to remain optimistic. I made sure my backpack was ready to go, then I skyped Liam to help me figure out what to wear for my first day. I held my phone camera facing the inside of my closet while Liam picked something out for me – a pair of low-rise, bootcut jeans and a fitted, black V-neck sweater. We talked for a while longer and then it was time for bed. "Good luck tomorrow, sis! And don't stress so much, everything will be great! I love you, good night!" he said lovingly.

"I hope so! I love you too, bro… Good night!" I said.

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**_Stay tuned for Serenity to start school... Will her bond with Jake be strong enough or will she meet someone whose bond is even deeper?_**


	7. Chapter 4 - Jacob's POV

I was set to meet up with Serenity this afternoon. We planned to hang out at her place, while the rest of her family drove to Vancouver to drop off her brother. I got that familiar feeling of butterflies in my stomach - a feeling that I had gotten used to lately… pretty much any time I thought about Serenity. I was completely smitten with her, I couldn't believe my luck, meeting a girl like her – it had been a few weeks now and I still hadn't got up the courage to ask her to be my girlfriend (yet), but maybe today would be that day; after all, we were going to be alone at her house all day – there would be no better opportunity than this, I thought to myself. I started imagining all kinds of different scenarios in my head as I made my way over to her house. I arrived just before 1pm. There was loud music coming from inside the house, so I decided to ring the doorbell. A couple of minutes passed before Serenity opened the door – she looked out of breath, her skin glistening with sweat. Her hair was slightly messy and tied back in a bun as usual, but she was wearing an athletic type, lose fitting, purple tank top that I hadn't seen before… paired with skin-tight, black yoga pants that hugged her every curve.

"Hey Jake! Come on, in" she said, smiling at me.

"Hey" I faintly managed to get out (trying not to drool all over the floor), as I walked into her house.

"Umm… Sorry, I probably reek… I was just… uhhh…" she started, then paused like she couldn't remember what she was going to say.

"Working out?" I added, trying to be helpful.

"**YES**! Working out…" she exclaimed, looking relieved.

**Serenity**: "Let me give you a tour of the house"

**Me**: "Sure"

I had never been past their home's entrance way before. I followed her up the stairs; she showed me the bedrooms – they were nice… her room in particular, was super clean and neat; she even made her bed. We headed back downstairs, through the hallway and kitchen into their living room. Everything in the house seemed very modern, updated and new, but it was hard to concentrate on the house, when my eyes were constantly being drawn to her butt, the whole time we were walking. I couldn't help it… it was as though my eyes were flowers and her butt, the sun… what a terrible analogy, I thought to myself, shaking my head.

"Is something wrong?" Serenity asked, looking a little concerned.

"Oh… nothing" I said looking up from her butt and into her eyes, quickly.

"Ok" she said, sounding slightly suspicious.

"Phew… that was close… I gotta be way more careful" I thought…

**Serenity**: "I am just going to take a quick shower, then meet you back down here"

"Ok" I said, sitting down on the couch.

"Make yourself at home… I trust you know how to work a TV remote" she quipped, as she walked away.

I looked at her and laughed… "Funny! I see you got jokes!" I said turning on the TV.

When she left, I let my imagination go wild, knowing that she was going to be completely naked in the room upstairs… I quickly caught myself and decided to think of something else, before my thoughts caused "a certain bodily reaction". When she came back, she was wearing slightly baggier sweatpants and a different tank top, her hair was down for the first time though… I couldn't believe how long it was – the tips reached all the way past her lower back. She was armed with a hairbrush and started brushing it back and pulling it back into her signature bun.

"So, what's new?" she asked me.

I decided to tell her a funny story involving Embry and Quil, that had happened recently. We laughed for a minute and then it occurred to me. We only ever talked about my friends or her family, but she never mentioned her friends back in Vancouver…

Me: "Hey… so how come you didn't go with your family to drop Liam off? You didn't wanna see any of your friends? Don't you miss them?"

She looked down at the ground, her mood changed from happy to disheartened.

"Well… I have never been a fan of Vancouver and I don't really have any friends there to be honest… The only friends I have, are my brother… and now, you" she said, as she went on to explain the loneliness and bullying, she endured growing up there.

"What? How?" I said in disbelief. "You are such a smart… and kind… and funny… and just overall beautiful person" I continued; "how did people not want to be friends with you? How could anyone want to be mean to **_you_**?!" I finished, starting to feel angry at people I had never met before and just angry in general, for all that she had been through, up until moving here.

"I'm not sure… But it doesn't really bother me anymore" she said perking up. "Because I have a friend like you now, and that's all that matters" she said smiling up at me.

"Yeah, I guess you do" I said, smiling back, as I side hugged her tightly.

"That reminds me… I was wondering if you wanted to ride to school together, next Monday?" she asked biting her lower lip, giving me a puppy look.

"I… I don't go to the regular school… I go to school on the reservation" I said, apologetically.

"Damnit" I thought… I never even thought about that.

"Oh… right… right… makes sense. That's too bad, it would have been nice to have known at least one person" she replied.

Me: "I'm so sorry… I would have loved to have gone to school with you…"

**Serenity**: "No worries, it's all good…"

We talked and laughed all afternoon. At around 4pm, Serenity started cooking us some supper.

"I hope you're hungry" she said, handing me a plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

"Wow, this looks and smells amazing" I said, taking a deep breath in through my nose. "How'd you learn to cook like this? It looks like something you'd get in a restaurant" I complimented.

"Thank you… I had a lot of free time to learn" she replied.

I took a couple of bites "Mmmmhh… tastes as good as it looks" I assured her.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it didn't disappoint" she said, smiling.

We finished supper and decided to watch a movie. My heart started racing, and the butterflies in my stomach were back. This is where I would ask her to be my girlfriend, maybe I would even finally get to kiss her… We picked out a movie and to my delight she sat right next to me on the couch to watch. Halfway through the movie, I decided I would take my chance and tell her how I felt about her. I was too nervous to face her, so instead I just said "I have to tell you something… I really like you, Serenity, like… like-like you… since the day I first met you, and I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me… and be my girlfriend" I finished, feeling relieved as I turned to look at her. Unfortunately for me, her eyes were closed; she must have fallen asleep at some point without me noticing. Her body started leaning towards me and her head landed softly on my shoulder. "Well, that didn't go the way I planned…" I thought, disappointed. Just as the movie finished, she quickly sat upright - "Oh my gawd, I'm so sorry… I can't believe I fell asleep" she said, blushing.

"Don't worry, you didn't miss much…" I said, trying desperately to put on a smile. "You only missed me professing my love to you…" I thought to myself. "I should probably get going though, it's getting late and my dad will be wondering where I am"

"Oh yeah, of course" she said, as we both stood up and headed toward the front door.

"Thanks again for supper" I said.

"Any time" she replied, smiling.

I hugged her tightly, pulling her body in close to mine. Her arms were wrapped around my neck, as she stood on her tippy toes to reach, our cheeks touching. I didn't want to let her go, but that was nothing new. Holding her just felt so right. "Maybe I should tell her right now…" I thought. But my mouth betrayed me… I released her from the hug slowly, looking into those beautiful eyes of hers, as she looked up at me.

"Have a good night" she whispered.

"You too" I said, turning around to walk to my truck.

I got in my truck and pulled out of the driveway, taking one last look towards the door, where Serenity stood waving goodbye. I waved back as I drove by.

"Damnit" I thought… I couldn't believe that she still didn't know how I really felt about her.

I drove home and went straight to bed. I couldn't stop thinking about her… Her beautiful blue eyes, those luscious lips and the way it felt when I pulled her body in close to mine. Then my heart sank in disappointment because I still hadn't managed to ask her to be my girlfriend.

I woke up the next morning and went to work at the dealership with my dad. Later that morning while taking a break, I decided to call Serenity to make sure she was ok, since she had spent the night, home alone. We talked for a little while… I wanted so badly to tell her how I felt the whole time we were on the phone, but it just didn't feel right doing this over the phone. I wanted to have this conversation with her in person, so I could gauge her reaction… We hung up, as I hung my head in frustration. "Why was this so difficult" I thought.

The rest of the week flew by with no chance of seeing Serenity before school started… I knew that if I didn't ask her soon, I could lose my chance… I knew that a girl as amazing as her, would never be ignored here… especially not with how many stupid horndogs there were in this town.

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_**Sit tight for what happens next... Will Jacob finally profess his love? Or will their friendship take a back seat when Serenity starts school and meets new people...**_


	8. Chapter 5 - High School Drama

**Author's Note:**

Shout out to my girl RussetWolf for an awesome idea that I incorporated at the end of this chapter! :)

Thanks to all my readers who are still tagging along! Life is going to take an interesting turn for Serenity here...

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I woke up at 6 am the next morning, to make sure I wouldn't end up rushing to get ready. I took a shower, got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. My parents were already up and getting ready to go to work. It was 7 am and school didn't start for another hour and a half, but I felt compelled to get out the door. My parents must have sensed my anxiety and purposely kept me trapped in conversation before allowing me to leave. My dad asked if I wanted a ride or if I wanted to take Liam's car (since I hadn't taken the time to pick one out for myself). I decided I'd take Liam's car (since the last thing I needed, was to get dropped off in my dad's squad car, adding unnecessary attention, that I didn't want or need). When I finally left it was 7.45 am; I got in Liam's car and drove the twenty minutes to school. Once I got there, I found a parking spot on the far side of the lot and parked the car. I took a quick look in the mirror and realized that in my hurry to leave, I forgot to put up my hair, I knew I didn't have any spare elastics, so I had to improvise – I took a pencil out of my bag, twirled my hair tightly, up into a bun and used the pencil to hold it in place with a technique I had used many times before. Then I took a couple of deep breaths, put in my headphones, got out of the car and made my way towards the school. I felt the gaze of many unsolicited eyes on me, as I was walking across the parking lot - I finally got to the top of the stairs that led to the front door and walked into the school. I got about 30 feet into the hallway when I felt a sudden blow to the back of my head, causing me to fall forward. I put out my hands to break the fall, dropping the books I was carrying in the process. The pencil I had just put in my hair broke, resulting in my hair untwirling furiously and falling to the side of my face; my headphones also fell out from the force and my ears were ringing. I was trying to piece together what had happened when I noticed a football wobbling past me. This must be what hit me in the head, I thought, still on my hands and knees from falling.

I couldn't believe it… this just had to happen to me… and on my first day in a new school, nonetheless (as if my anxiety wasn't punishment enough). So much for keeping it low key - I thought to myself. I was afraid to look around to see just how many people had seen my embarrassing incident… but to my surprise I merely heard some quiet whispering… but no laughter at all… I finally found the courage to look up from the ground - in front of me was a teacher which probably explained why there wasn't more of a reaction from the students around.

"Are you alright?" he said holding out his hand to help me up.

"I'm alright… I think" I said, reaching for his hand to get up.

A second later, two boys came running down the hallway for their football. "We're so sorry, we didn't mean to hit anyone…or even throw the ball that hard, it was a complete accident."

"It's ok…" I said quietly looking down.

"Absolutely NOT OK! You boys know the rules! This is absolutely unacceptable… you boys are coming with me to visit the principal" the teacher declared.

Another girl picked up the books I had dropped and handed them to me.

"Thanks Angela, would you mind helping, young Miss… uhhh…" he paused, looking at me quizzically.

"Steele… Serenity Steele" I added.

"Yes… Could you help young Miss Steele to find her bearings, please?"

"Sure, Mr. Molina!" she said, turning towards me.

"Hi, my name is Angela, you must be new around here!?" she said, looking at me curiously.

She looked kind and I was happy to have someone to help me out.

"Hey, I'm Serenity. I just moved here from Canada, over the summer break" I replied shyly.

Angela: "Oh cool! How are you liking Forks so far?"

Me: "It's not bad…" I replied, smiling politely.

Angela: "Here, I have a couple of extra hair ties" she said, passing me one. "Let me see your schedule, I can probably direct youto some of your classes if you'd like?"

"Here you go" I said, as I handed her a folded-up piece of paper that I kept in my back pocket.

She took a quick look at it… "Your first class is music, it's just a couple of rooms down, and looks like you have phys ed after that. The gym is just straight down this hallway and to your left. After that it's lunch time - if you've got no other plans, feel free to join me and some other friends in the cafeteria."

Me: "Sure, thanks so much for your help… I will probably see you at lunch".

Angela: "Sounds good, hope the rest of your morning is better" she said, before walking away.

I walked quickly to my first class and arrived just before the bell rang. When I walked in, there were many more stares and whispers in my direction.

Teacher: "Ahhh… You must be Serenity, come on in! I'm Mr. Soldan, the music teacher. I heard you play piano… as well as guitar?!" He said, looking impressed. "So, since I have no other students in my class that paly either, your expertise is something I am quite excited about… as you might be able to tell already" he said excitedly.

"Oh… ok…" I said quietly.

"Would you be so kind as to play something for us on the piano? I just want to see what skill level you're at – don't be shy, no one here will judge you… right everyone?! Let's give Miss Steele some encouragement." He said aloud to the class. He started clapping and the rest of the class joined him in a rather lackluster manner.

I felt my cheeks burn up from blushing and I started getting that all too familiar nauseated feeling from my performance anxiety. My heart was pounding out of my chest and I wanted to run, but my legs wouldn't allow me to move. I looked around the room anxiously where my eyes met a boys'. He was sitting in the back row, holding a violin and may have looked just slightly more miserable than me (if not sickly), but suddenly my fears and anxiety started melting away. I felt calm and relaxed in a way I had never felt in a situation like this. I thanked whatever external forces were responsible for this miracle… then decided to use this opportunity to play something on the piano before the anxiety returned.

I sat on the bench in front of the beautiful, black baby grand piano they had sitting at the front of the classroom and decided to play a piece called "Für Elise" – an early 19th century piece by Ludwig Van Beethoven. It was my paternalgrandmothers' favourite and I knew it by heart, as I had played it for her so often growing up. My hands were gliding over the keys effortlessly and for a moment, I forgot that there was a classroom full of people behind me. I felt as though I was back in my grandma's house, playing this song just for her. The music from the piano produced a melody so beautiful and sweet, that it could have drawn emotion from even the hardest criminal. When I finished, there was a brief pause before the room erupted in thundering applause, startling me back to reality.

"Bravo! That was absolutely magnificent!" the teacher exclaimed, amidst the loud applause and whistling from students behind me.

When I turned around, I realized that there was a standing ovation and more students and teachers at the back of the music classroom, that hadn't been there originally. My anxiety suddenly hit an unsurmountable high point, once I realized how many people had been there, watching me. I froze once again and was hoping for another miracle – my prayer was answered seconds later, as another wave of calm washed over me. I couldn't understand it – not even my anxiety medication could make me feel this calm – what kind of magic was I exposed to?... Or… was this all simply a dream that I would wake up from any minute now.

I looked around the room, crammed full of people and in the crowd, I spotted Angela, who gave me a thumbs up. She had a camera strapped around her neck and was snapping pictures, while others seemingly had their cellphones in hand recording the whole performance. The applause finally died down and soon, those who joined after the fact, started filing back out of the room, in an orderly fashion. I watched them walk out one by one, when a boy caught my eye. He carried himself differently from the others - his skin was pale like the boy sitting in the back of the class (except he didn't look quite as sickly as the other boy), his eyes were a golden brown. For a split second I felt as though I knew him, like we had met before, but I knew this was impossible, given the fact I had just moved here - I quickly dismissed the thought, directing my gaze down at the ground.

"Well, that certainly was an exciting and entertaining performance! What a treat! And to think, I would have settled for "Mary had a little lamb"! Silly me!... Thank you, Serenity!" The teacher said joyfully.

"You're welcome" I said timidly, before turning back around to face the front of the class. The rest of the class went by quickly, the teacher handed out our music books and we spent the rest of that class going over expectations and such until the bell rang.

I got up, grabbed my backpack and started walking towards the door.

"Miss Steele, could I borrow you for a moment?" the teacher said, hurrying towards me.

"Umm… Sure" I said, coming to an abrupt stop.

"How would you feel about playing the piano at our "Christmas Talent Show" in a few months? I think you would do very well… There are cash prizes, as well as opportunities for music scholarships to be won."

"Umm… I am not sure… I may be out of town at that time" I said apprehensively.

"Would you please at least consider my offer? You don't have to make up your mind right away but let me know when you've made a choice, either way." he pleaded.

"Sure… of course" I said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

Next, I was off to the gym for phys ed class. I walked down the hallway quickly, to where Angela had directed me earlier that morning. I walked into the locker room, got changed and headed into the gym where volleyball nets were being set up – I quickly ran over and helped where I could.

The teacher started with roll call – one by one, you heard people answer "here" when their name was called out.

"Serenity Steele" she called out, looking up from her clipboard.

"Here" I answered.

"Ahhh there you are" she said matter-of-factly, lowering her clipboard. "I heard you played volleyball for the Canadian 16U National Team, is that correct?" she asked curiously.

"Yes ma'am" I said unassumingly, looking down.

"Very well, I would like you to be a team captain… Jessica, you will be the opposing team captain" she directed. Then she divided us into two groups respectively.

My team was awarded the first serve based on a coin toss. My teammates decided that I should take it. I hadn't played in a while but hoped that it would be like riding a bicycle. I walked to the back of the court, positioning myself in the middle of the court facing the opposing team – I threw the ball up and hit it energetically – it flew fast as it grazed the net ever so lightly, before hitting the ground hard on the other side. It appeared that no one was inclined to receive it on the other side, giving us our first point. The girls on my team came back to high five me and quickly got back into position. I was up to serve again - I stood at the back of the court, repeating the same routine, the ball grazing the net lightly on its way to the opposing teams' side.

"Someone better get this one!" Jessica yelled loudly, as a girl reluctantly stepped in to receive my serve. The ball ricochet off her arms and out of play. Another point for us. I was up for my third serve – this time, the opposing team was able to receive and play out the ball, returning it back over the net to our side, where the girl beside me skillfully "dug" it up and passed it to someone by the net who then set me up for a spike. I smacked the ball hard, at a sharp angle, in order to make it more difficult for the opposing team to return and my plan worked. The ball hit the ground once more and my team erupted in cheers, high fiving each other once again. I started enjoying myself and wondered why I had ever quit such a fun sport. We continued playing until the game was over – our team ended up winning which was a great feeling. Then everyone got in a line to shake hands with the opposing team, you could hear "good game" and "nice job" coming from everyone's mouths – when it came time for me to shake Jessica's hand, I reached out my hand to her, "good ga…" I started, but she just looked at me bitterly and cut me off, "why don't you just go back to whatever hole, you crawled out of, you stupid b**ch". Some of the other girls around me had heard the exchange, but the teacher did not… I was shocked at this point; I didn't know what to say… "I'm sorry you feel that way" I said, looking down, suddenly remembering why I quit. The other girls rallied around me, telling me to ignore Jessica, that she was probably just upset about losing and such and I decided not to let this incident sour my whole day. We took down the nets and the bell signaled the end of class. Finally, lunch time… I went to the cafeteria to find Angela.

"Hey, Serenity! Over here!" I heard someone yell, as I scanned the lunchroom - it was Angela. I went over to sit with her and another person who was sitting across the table from her.

"This is my friend, Serenity" she said, introducing me to her friend.

"Duh!" he said like he already knew exactly who I was. "Hey, I'm Eric – the eyes and ears of this school. I have heard so much about you already! I heard you playing the piano this morning… I was outside of the classroom because I couldn't fit, but damn, that was really good!... And I also just heard that you singlehandedly "killed" our Volleyball team in phys ed class… Jessica must have been pissed!" he laughed.

"It wasn't just me… It was a team effort… but yeah, she was…" I said, cringing slightly at this new information.

"So, I am on the school newspaper and you are news baby… How do you feel about us doing a feature on you?!" Eric said looking at me wide-eyed.

"Umm… a feature… on me?... Ummm no thank you… please don't" I said.

"Alright then… no feature" he declared, looking at Angela.

"What the f**k is she doing here?!" someone behind me exclaimed critically. I turned around to find Jessica standing there glaring at me.

"This is Serenity", Angela announced unafraid. "She's my friend and she is going to sit with us from now on."

"… Fine then…" Jessica retorted, sitting on a chair on Angela's other side while continuing to glare at me. Soon we were joined by another boy named Mike.

"Serenity Steele… Your reputation precedes you" he proclaimed, looking me up and down creepily as he pulled out the chair beside mine to sit in; however, his plan was quickly kiboshed by another boy (whose name I learned later, was Tyler), when he pulled the chair out from right under Mike, causing him to fall on the floor instead. Mike got up, chasing Tyler out of the lunchroom.

"Excuse me ladies" Eric said, as he followed the two, hastily.

"And then there were three" Jessica said candidly… "Don't you have someone else's life you can go ruin?" she continued, looking straight at me.

"Unfortunately, not… but to be honest, I am really starting to enjoy your company… So, I think I will stick around" I said, smiling at her smugly.

"Ugh!" she exclaimed angrily before storming off.

"That was hilarious!" Angela said to me giggling. "You will have to excuse her, she is a bit high maintenance, but she'll come around eventually".

"No worries, I have dealt with many versions of her before… her attitude doesn't bother me" I re**p**lied.

Suddenly, I saw a "clique" of sorts walking through the cafeteria, three guys and a couple of girls – all very well dressed. I recognized two of the boys from my music class this morning, one was the sickly one from the back row and the other was seemingly just visiting while I played the piano.

"Who are they?" I**whispered to**Angela.

"The Cullen kids – they are the adopted kids of Dr. and Mrs. Cullen. The blonde one is Rosalie, the big guy whose arm is wrapped around her, is Emmett… The short haired girl is Alice, she's a bit weird… she tends to space out a lot… and the guy with her, who looks miserable out of his mind, is Jasper… and… last, but not least, the "fifth wheel" so to speak, is Edward… many girls here, including Jessica have tried and failed to date him… it's like nobody here is good enough for him.

"Oh… I see" I said to her quietly. "Hmm … what odd names for our generation… almost regal…" I thought to myself, as I watched them walk past us.

We continued talking and getting to know one another until the end of lunch. We threw out our garbage and started walking out of the cafeteria.

"Hey, can you possibly show me where my last two classes are? I asked.

Angela: "Of course! Let me see your schedule again?"

Me: "Here you go" I said, handing her my schedule.

"Oh, your next class is Math which is at the end of the next hallway and your last class is Biology with Mr. Molina; the teacher you met this morning. His classroom is close to where you and I met this morning."

"Thanks so much for all your help today by the way…" I said, sincerely.

"Yeah, no problem! I'll see you tomorrow?" she replied.

Me: "Yeah, see you tomorrow!"

Then we went our separate ways.

Math class flew by quickly and before I knew it, I was making my way to my last class – Biology. But somehow, I managed to get lost. By the time I walked into the classroom; everyone else had seemingly already found a seat. Mr. Molina walked in right behind me.

"Ahh… Miss Steele, how's your head?" he asked, seemingly still concerned.

"It's fine…" I replied, slightly embarrassed.

"You can have a seat right there" he said, pointing to the front row. I turned to look at the seat he was referring to. It was right beside one of the Cullen boys, I had learned about at lunch time.

I walked over dropping my backpack beside the desk.

"Hi" I said quietly, smiling at my desk partner before taking a seat beside him.

Edward: "Hello… You're Serenity Steele, right**?**" he said, in a surprisingly polite manner.

Me: "Yeah… that's me…"

Edward: "I heard you play the piano this morning… you play quite well"

Me: "Thank you…"

Edward: "I am Edward by the way… Edward Cullen"

Me: "It's nice to meet you Edward"

Edward: "The pleasure is all mine" he said, smiling at me with a crooked but kind smile.

I thought I detected a slight accent, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it… I just felt as though he was different from the other people at school.

Edward and I talked quietly for most of the class while working on a partner assignment. He seemed very friendly and not at all what I expected, given Angela's description of him and his siblings. He asked a lot of the usual questions – where was I from, what had brought me to Forks, how did I like it so far, etc. By the end of the class I realized I told him a lot about me… but still knew very little about him. I suddenly wondered if I had been rude to not ask him more questions, but before I could ask him anything in return, the bell rang, signaling the end of the day.

"Could I offer you a ride home Serenity?" Edward asked me.

I looked at him surprised, my heart fluttering slightly with excitement. "Oh, I actually drove here this morning… but thank you for the offer" I said shyly, feeling my cheeks blush.

"Oh… well can I walk you to your car?" he countered.

"Sure!" I said, happily.

As we were walking, I thought "maybe this is my chance to ask him some questions…".

"So, where are you from Edward? Were you born and raised in Forks?" I asked.

My question seemed to throw him off… "Oh, sorry… I forgot, I was supposed to meet my siblings… I will see you later?" he said, suddenly.

"Oh… ok, sure…" I said, slightly disheartened.

I wondered if my question offended him, but I didn't want to get stuck overthinking the situation, so I ousted the thought and just kept walking. On my way out, I noticed Edward, standing with his siblings by their vehicles. They were seemingly watching me… I gave a slight smile trying not to look intimidated and kept walking towards my brothers' vehicle across the other side of the parking lot. I got into the vehicle and took one last look across the parking lot, where the Cullen's were still watching me. I looked away quickly, embarrassed that they caught me looking again. I started the car and drove home. Once I got there, I called Liam to tell him about my first day.

"Hey you! Nice work on the piano in your music class this morning" he said as he answered.

"How…how'd you know about that?" I asked, confused.

"Someone in your school posted it on YouTube and it popped up in the trending section" he said laughing.

"Holy sh*t, are you serious?" I asked…

"I kid you not" he answered.

We continued talking for a while before he had to get to hockey practice.

The rest of my week was more of the same… I became good friends with Angela, and we hung out at school every day. Eventually, Jessica stopped coming around all together as she seemingly found a new group to hang out with. Edward and I got along great also, but our friendship struck me as rather odd, considering he would ask me things… but was seemingly uncomfortable answering any of my questions in return, instead deflecting or coming up with an excuse of sorts to leave. I didn't know what to make of it.

After school on Friday, I called Jacob – I felt like I hadn't talked to him in forever even though we texted a couple of times throughout the week. The phone rang and a few seconds later…

Jacob: "Hello?"

Me: "Hey Jake, how's it going?" I asked excitedly.

Jacob: "Umm it's going ok, how are you? How was your first week of school?" he asked unenthusiastically.

Me: "My week has been surprisingly great, actually… I made some more friends and enjoy my classes so far"

Jacob: "New friends? Like who?"

I named them off one by one, starting with Angela Weber, Erik Yorkie, Mike Newton, Tyler Crowley, Edward… Jacob suddenly cut me off.

"Edward Cullen?!" he asked assertively.

"Yeah…" I said surprised… "You know him?" I asked.

Jacob: "Yeah, I know him… stay away from him, Serenity!" he said domineeringly.

"Excuse me?" I asked surprised… I had never seen this side of him before, it almost scared me…

Jacob: "You heard me, Serenity! I don't want you talking to him anymore!"

Me: "I don't know if I like your tone, Jake… How about you worry a little less about **who** I talk to and more so about **how** you talk to your friends" I said, as I hung up angrily.

My phone rang a few seconds later… It was Jake. I wasn't ready to talk to him again, so I turned off my phone. I decided that I needed to keep myself occupied in order to keep my mind off the interaction I just had, so I went downstairs, blasted the music and started dancing. A few hours had passed, and I had finally calmed down. I turned my phone back on to check the time… realizing it was after 7pm already. Suddenly I got several notifications about missed calls and voicemails. I figured they were probably from Jake, but I decided that it would be best to check, in case any of them were from my family. I listened intently to the first message… it was from Jake:

"Serenity, I am so sorry… please don't be mad… I was a douche; I shouldn't have talked to you like that… I'm sorry… please call me back"

**Second voicemail:**

"Serenity, it's Jake… agan… Where are you? Please answer your phone… I'm so sorry for the way I acted… please call me back when you get this"

**Third voicemail:**

"Serenity, it's me again, please… I am begging you! Answer your phone!... I am really sorry!"

Each voicemail sounding slightly more desperate than the last.

At this point I felt terrible, maybe I should have at least given him a chance to explain why he felt this way about the Cullens'. I decided to call him back, but no answer… I called a few more times and still nothing.

"F**k!" I thought… "What have I done?! I should go see him and apologize" … I changed out of my sweaty clothes, got into Liam's car and drove towards the reservation. It was dark outside but there was not a lot of traffic at least. Ten minutes into my drive, I saw a bright pair of headlights… something didn't seem quite right though, they seemed to be in my lane… I had nowhere to go to avoid him… I panicked and hammered on the horn continuously, trying to get the other person's attention. It was no use… I slammed on my breaks hard, cranking the wheel to the right to try to avoid the other vehicle. My thoughts started racing "Liam will be so mad if I crash his vehicle, my parents don't even know where I am, I forgot to tell them where I was going…"

Without warning, the other car collided with mine as I lost complete control.

The next thing I remembered was hearing a familiar voice… "Stay with me, Serenity! Stay with me!"

I opened my eyes to see Edward looking at me with a concerned look on his face…

"Wha...what… h-happened?" I asked. The world around me started spinning before it went completely black.

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**Keep your eyes peeled for some Jacob & Edward POV.**

**Life's about to get real for Serenity... or will it all just be a dream? Feedback and ideas are always welcome! :) **


	9. Chapter 5 - Jacob's POV

**Authors Note:**

As promised... Here is the Jacob POV! Enjoy!

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Summer was over… which to me only meant that I wouldn't see Serenity as often… who knows what would happen at her new school… what if she made new friends and forgot about me all together? F*k this sucked… My days dragged on slowly and my mind was engulfed with thoughts of Serenity. I wanted to text her every minute of the day but would always stop myself at the last second. I didn't want to be overbearing, so I waited for her to text me instead – which she did, but the conversations were so infrequent and short, it only left me wanting more.

Friday rolled around fast and I was hanging out at the dealership with my dad after school when my phone started buzzing in my pocket – it was Serenity calling. I walked to the workshop for some privacy and answered my phone.

Me: "Hello?"

Serenity: "Hey Jake, how's it going?" she asked excitedly.

Me: "Umm it's going ok, how are you? How was your first week of school?" I asked, trying not to sound too unenthusiastic.

Serenity: "My week has been surprisingly great, actually… I made some more friends and I'm enjoying my classes so far"

Me: "New friends? Like who?"

She named them off one by one, starting with Angela Weber, Erik Yorkie, Mike Newton, Tyler Crowley, Edward… NO! NOT EDWARD CULLEN! I thought angrily.

"Edward Cullen?!" I said interrupting her.

"Yeah…" she said sounding surprised… "You know him?" she asked.

Me: "Yeah, I know him… stay away from him, Serenity!" I said angrily.

"Excuse me?" she asked, sounding exasperated… but I wasn't going to let this go.

Me: "You heard me, Serenity! I don't want you talking to him anymore!"

Serenity: "I don't know if I like your tone, Jake… How about you worry a little less about _who_ I talk to and more about _how_ **you** talk to your friends" she said, before hanging up on me.

Oh no… what did I do?! I thought, panicking… I hope I didn't just end our friendship… why did I have to say that s*t to her… I had to call her back and apologize.

I called her number back, but it went to voicemail after just a couple of rings. "F*k!!! you've done it now Jake… you got her to hate you…" I rhought as I tried calling back again, but this time it went straight to voicemail.

"Serenity, I am so sorry… please don't be mad… I was a douche; I shouldn't have talked to you like that… I'm sorry… please call me back"

I tried calling back a few more times, waiting some time between each call… and I left another voicemail every time…

"Serenity, it's Jake… again… Where are you? Please answer your phone… I'm so sorry for the way I acted… please call me back when you get this"

Third voicemail:

"Serenity, it's me again, please… I am begging you! Answer your phone!... I am really sorry!"

At this point it had been a few hours and her phone was still sending me to voicemail… what if she blocked me? Or worse… what if she ran to Edward for comfort… I couldn't bear the thought! I had to drive over to see her!

I got in my truck and started driving, blasting loud rock music to try to keep my mind off of whatever may or may not be going on at Serenity's place right now… I was about 10 minutes from Serenity's place when I noticed a couple of missed calls on my phone, but as I went to check them, I dropped my phone and it slid around on the floor of my truck… damnit, I thought… at least there was no one else on the road, so I quickly reached down to grab it… got it! I looked back up and realized that I had veered into oncoming traffic and was about to hit another car… I tried to turn my wheel back the other way, but it was too late… my truck collided with the other car as glass shattered all around me. Suddenly everything went dark.

When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed… I looked around, my dad was standing by the window, looking out.

"Dad?"… I managed to get out of my mouth.

"Jacob!...Son! You're awake" my dad said relieved, as he rushed to my side.

Me: "Dad… How long was I out for? What happened?"

Dad: "You have been in a coma for three days… you were in an accident, son… your truck hit Se…" he paused… "someone else's SUV…"

Me: "Oh God… who did I hit?! Are they alright?!" I said, slowly propping myself into an upright position.

Dad: "They're in a coma also, and currently in stable condition…"

Me: "Who is it dad? Anyone we know?"

Dad: "Don't worry about it, son… Right now, you have to focus on getting better first"

Me: "Dad, what are you not telling me?!... Who did I hit?!..." I said, anxiously…

Dad: "Please just let it go, son… I will tell you everything… in good time…"

I couldn't let it go… What had I done!? Why wouldn't my dad just tell me who I hit?...

Me: "Are they in this hospital?... I want to apologize right now, dad… please take me there" I said, tears forming in my eyes.

Dad: "I can't do that son… please just trust me" he said, trying to reassure me.

Then a doctor walked in…

Doctor: "Oh, Jacob, you're awake… How are you feeling" he asked as he started checking my vitals.

Me: "I am alright, doctor… how is the person I hit… are they going to be ok?"

Doctor: "She is in stable condition right now… there is nothing to worry about" he said, as he exchanged glances with my dad.

Me: "What is going on here!? Why won't anyone tell me the truth!? Who did I hit?! Tell me!" I said getting angry… "Fine! If you won't tell me, I will go find them myself!" I finished, as I started pulling wires off my body and needles out of my arms.

My dad and the doctor were trying to stop me, but I was much stronger than them. I managed to get past them, as I ran out of my room – I looked down the hallway and saw Serenity's dad walking into a room… he would know who I hit, I thought… I ran down the hallway still being followed by my dad and the doctor, as well as a couple of nurses.

"Officer Steele!" I said, trying to catch my breath.

"Jacob…? What are you doing here?! Don't you think you've done enough damage…?!" He said sternly.

I looked over to the bed, where I saw a small frame of a body laying, covered in bandages and surrounded by all kinds of machines… then realization dawned on me, as the doctor, nurses and my father finally caught up to me.

"Oh no… NO! NO!... Is this… did I do this to her…!?" I stammered in despair, trying to go to her, but my dad rushed to restrain me.

"I am so sorry Frank" My dad said apologetically to the chief of police, "we tried… to keep him away, but he's just so stubborn and wouldn't listen"

Frank nodded at my dad understandingly, before stepping between me and the bed, that Serenity lay in. I fell to my knees in defeat, sobbing… and apologizing profusely... I couldn't believe it… had I just kept my cool when I was on the phone with Serenity, all this would have never happened… this was all my fault… My dad finally managed to pick me up off the floor and he walked me back to my room.

In a single moment of anger, I managed to ruin everything… I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if she didn't make it…

**A/N:**Please review if you enjoyed! :)


	10. Chapter 5 - Edward's POV

It was the start of another school year. We had recently moved back to Forks, it was one of my family's favourite places. Life was getting slightly monotonous, but the younger we started out, the longer we would be able to stay in one place… so back to High School it was. My "siblings" and I arrived at the same time, but driving in separate vehicles. The parking lot was bustling with people, I got out of my car and listened to all the whispers around me… it seems there was a new person… a girl, who was causing quite the stir. Guys seemingly thought she was hot and girls seemed to be quite jealous of her. Humans… They'll never change… I thought. My siblings and I walked into the school, when we saw someone get hit in the back of the head with a football. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as I watched them fall forward, landing on their hands and knees. Her hair unraveled out of the bun and fell to the side of her face covering it from view. A crowd gathered around her blocking my view as we passed. I saw Mr. Molina fight his way through, telling everyone to scatter, as he reached out his hand to help her up. I caught a quick glimpse when she looked up…

"Impossible!" I thought… "It can't be… those eyes…"

"Edward… what's wrong?" Alice asked sounding concerned.

"Nothing…" I said, shaking my head in disbelief as I continued walking.

During my first period, I heard a beautiful melody coming from the music room next to mine… an early 19th century piece that I knew all too well. It seemed to have peaked everyone's interest, as the teacher commented on it also. She was curious as to who was playing and decided that she wanted to take a quick peek. The rest of the class, myself included, followed. We walked to the music room where other people had already gathered and the music teacher, Mr. Soldan, waved us all inside. We stood at the back of the classroom listening intently.

"It was her…" there was no doubt in my mind at this point, as I listened to her play the piano.

If I was still human, my heart would surely be beating faster at this realization, but I figured it would be best not to do anything rash… after all, she didn't know me… yet. But in time I'm sure this would change. I tried to read her thoughts from across the room, but I couldn't, not a single thing… how strange, I thought, I had never had a block like this before. I decided to test my abilities on the other people in the room… It was working just fine… It was just _her_ mind that I couldn't read.

The song ended and the room exploded in a standing ovation, as they should – Beethoven himself couldn't have played this song more beautifully. I applauded with the crowd, as she turned around slowly. She had the face of an angel... she looked humbled and slightly embarrassed by the reaction she had received. She scanned the room slowly, realizing just how large of a crowd had gathered to hear her play… The students who were not a part of this class, including myself, started leaving the room… her eyes met mine, pausing for a brief moment before she looked down at the ground. The rest of this class and the next were uneventful; I couldn't stop thinking about the girl whose name I learned, was Serenity Steele – word about her travelled around the school quickly – I heard all kinds of rumors about her, but that is all they were… rumors. I felt compelled to get to the bottom of it all, firsthand, as soon as I got a chance.

It was lunch time, of course neither I nor anyone in my family required food but we usually sat in the lunchroom to socialize, nonetheless. As we were walking through the lunchroom, I saw Serenity sitting with Angela Weber, she glanced at our group curiously before asking Angela about us, no doubt trying to be inconspicuous. The whole interaction made me smile a little. We sat at our table not far away from them and I continued listening to what they were talking about, trying to learn more about her.

Emmet: "Earth to Edward! Dude… why are you so checked out today?"

Me: "Oh… I don't know… just caught up in all the chatter, I guess"

Emmet: "Or maybe you're just caught up in the new girl, over there…?" he said laughing.

Me: "What makes you think that?!" I said sheepishly.

Emmet: "Because you haven't stopped staring at her!?" he said matter-of-factly, as the rest of the family nodded their head in agreement.

Rosalie: "What could possibly be so interesting about her?"

Me: "I can't read her thoughts…" I said, furrowing my brows, trying to hide the real reason why I was so entranced by her.

Alice: "No way, how is that possible?... Let me try..."

Alice looked in her direction intently for a couple of minutes…

Alice: "Nothing… I can't see anything!" she said in amazement.

Jasper: "Well I hate to break it to you rookies, but I am fully capable of controlling her mood… and good thing too, because her anxiety damn near killed me this morning"

I looked at Jasper, as Alice rubbed his arm in an attempt to comfort him.

Jasper: It was downright debilitating, if my powers hadn't worked, I would have been on the floor tucked into the fetal position for sure. It took all my strength though; it was not easy, let me tell you.

Lunch finished all too quickly, as I watched Serenity and Angela get up to throw away their garbage. I listened intently once again, to see what they were talking about. It seemed as though Serenity and I would have Biology together at the end of the day – this would be my chance, I thought. My third block went by slowly in anticipation of Biology, but the bell went, and I made sure to get to my last class quickly. I wasn't worried about anyone sitting beside me, as they all thought I was some sort of freak anyway – I just hoped that Serenity wouldn't be too afraid to sit next to me… To my luck she was the last person to show up and the seat next to mine was the only one left.

Serenity walked towards me, dropping her backpack beside the desk.

Serenity: "Hi" she said quietly, as she smiled at me ever so slightly.

Me: "Hello… You're Serenity Steele, right?!" I responded politely, trying not to come on too strong.

Serenity: "Yeah… that's me…" she said shyly.

Me: "I heard you play the piano this morning… you play quite well"

Serenity: "Thank you…"

Me: "I am Edward by the way… Edward Cullen"

Serenity: "It's nice to meet you, Edward"

Me: "The pleasure is all mine" I said, getting lost in those beautiful, deep blue eyes of hers.

We talked quietly to each other throughout the entire class – I asked her question after question, listening intently, as I tried to find out as much as I could about her. Suddenly, the bell rang, signaling the end of the day.

"Could I offer you a ride home Serenity?" I asked quickly – I wasn't ready to let this conversation end just yet.

She looked at me slightly surprised. "Oh, I actually drove here this morning… but thank you for the offer" she answered shyly, as her cheeks blushed.

"Oh… well can I at least walk you to your car?" I countered quickly.

"Sure!" she said, seemingly happy.

As we were walking, she looked at me curiously, "So, where are you from Edward? Were you born and raised in Forks?" she asked.

I hadn't thought about the fact that she may ask me questions in return… I had been so pre-occupied with her, that I couldn't keep my own story straight.

"Oh, sorry… I forgot; I was supposed to meet my siblings… I will see you later?" I said, trying to sound apologetic as I changed direction.

"Oh… ok, sure…" she said, looking slightly disheartened at my sudden change of plans.

I felt like a jerk… but it was better not to say anything, until I managed to get my thoughts organized about who I was and why I was here.

The rest of the week went by quickly; every day, I found myself looking forward to the classes I shared with Serenity, so I could get to know more about her… at night, I would sneak into her room to watch her sleep. Everything about her was so peaceful, her parents could not have given her a better name, I thought. On Friday, I followed her home – her parents were at work as usual. I watched her through the window, while I hid in the forest behind her house. She was on the phone, I couldn't quite make out who she was talking to, our what about… but she went from excited to angry quickly… I watched her pacing back and forth for a minute, seemingly distressed, before she walked out of view. I heard loud music coming from the basement, and I assumed that that is where she was. I walked around the house quickly, trying to find a window to see what she was up to. When I finally found one, I looked in cautiously to make sure she wouldn't see me. I watched as she danced some contemporary style dances, she was as graceful as a swan gliding across water. Her movements and expressions full of passion.

A while had passed, and she finally seemed relaxed again. She picked up her phone, seemingly realizing that it had been off. She turned it on, and I watched the screen light up with notifications. She put the phone to her ear, biting her lip nervously as she listened to her voicemails. Her mood seemingly changed from nervous to frustrated as she ran up the stairs. I scanned the outside of the house looking for her when I noticed the light was on in her bedroom; but by the time I climbed the tree to see what was going on, she was already out the door and running back downstairs. She walked out the front door, seemingly flustered about whatever had transpired on the phone. I decided it would be best to continue following her. I got in my car and followed, making sure to stay several car lengths behind her, so I wouldn't draw suspicion. Not long after, I heard the sound of a car horn beeping continuously… At this point I was worried, so I sped up; as I got closer, I realized that the truck in the oncoming traffic was in the wrong lane and driving straight towards Serenity's vehicle.

I raced as fast as I could to try and stop the other vehicle, but it was too late… There was a loud bang as the vehicles collided and parts were strewn about everywhere. I hit the brakes and got out of my vehicle running towards the scene of the accident. My only goal was to get Serenity to safety. Her car was in bad shape, the hood of the car and the drivers side door were smashed in pretty badly. I ripped off the door in one swift swoop – then, I carefully undid her seatbelt and picked her up in my arms as she slowly leaned into me.

"Stay with me, Serenity! Stay with me!" I said to her, as she faded in and out of consciousness.

Once I had her safely out of the vehicle, I laid her in the grass on the other side of the road making sure to cover her with my jacket before calling 911, followed by a call to Carlisle. Then I decided to check on the other driver making my way to their vehicle... but when I saw who it was, my anger consumed me, as thoughts of tearing him apart went through my mind. Thankfully for him, emergency services showed up, as they took over, and pulled him out of the vehicle. Carlisle showed up within minutes… "You have to save her Carlisle" I begged him as he helped load Serenity into an ambulance. "I can't make any promises, but I will do my best…" he said calmly.


	11. Chapter 6 - What Time is it!

**Author's Note:**

Here's where it gets trippy... hold on to your socks everyone... hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!

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I opened my eyes slowly… I had a splitting headache as though I hit my head on something hard while I was sleeping… I couldn't remember going to bed last night… I was in a large room featuring regal, wooden furniture. I spotted a mirror against the wall, in the middle of the room and made my way over there to check for any bumps or other abnormalities. Why did I feel so awful this morning!? I wondered. When I looked into the mirror, I saw my deep blue eyes looking back at me, but the rest of my face just felt different somehow… There were no noticable bumps but my fair complexion and light, golden brown hair seemed slightly dull… Where was I? Why couldn't I remember anything that happened before I went to sleep?

But my thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I asked, alarmed.

"Miss Elisabeth, are you decent? May I come in?" a female voice said.

Elisabeth? Who is Elisabeth…? I thought to myself.

Then another knock, a couple of seconds later.

"Miss Elisabeth are you alright?" the voice asked, with a hint of concern.

Am I Elisabeth? I thought… The person outside that door seemed to think so…

"Yes… Yes, I am alright… please come in" I finally answered.

The door opened and a lady, seemingly in her mid to late 30's wearing an odd, floor length dress with a white apron and headpiece entered the room.

"Good morning miss Elisabeth" the lady said, as she curtsied.

"Good morning…" I responded, as politely and confidently as I could, trying hard not to give away that I had no idea who she was (or who I was for that matter).

"I am here to assist you in getting ready for your chaperoned walk today" she said.

"Chaperoned walk?" I reiterated, looking at her puzzled.

"Yes miss, don't you remember?" she replied.

"Ummm… oh yes, of course! … yes, the chaperoned walk" I said, pretending as though I suddenly remembered.

She walked to a large wooden wardrobe, standing on the other side of the room… "Any preference for what colour you would like to wear today, miss?"

"No… just whatever you think is best" I said nervously.

She looked at me puzzled, then turned back towards the closet, reaching for something before turning back around to present her choice.

"How about this one?" she asked me, holding up an emerald green dress with gold accents, featuring a black, high neck collar with a ruby pin.

"Sure… yes, that looks nice…" I answered.

She hung the dress on the closet door, before proceeding to grab some other things – it looked like a hoop skirt of sorts, as well as a corset.

She walked towards me and proceeded to pull off my nightgown. Once I realized what was happening, I quickly stopped her.

"Oh, it's ok, I can do this part myself…" I said, embarrassed.

"Elisabeth Marie Snowden… what is going on? You are acting quite peculiar this morning" She asked sternly.

"Oh nothing… I just didn't sleep very well, I guess" I responded, trying to make it sound as believable as possible.

"Ahh, I see… is the young miss that anxious to see her love again!? She said light heartedly.

"Umm… Yes, that must be it" I replied.

At this point, I turned around and quickly pulled off my nightgown covering myself up with my arms. I allowed her to help me slip into the hoop skirt. She then handed me the corset to position around the front of my body, as she started skilfully pulling a long ribbon through the holes in the back, to tighten it. Lastly, she slipped the dress over my head, zipped it up and proceeded to close a tonne of little buttons.

"Oh, you look absolutely stunning, Miss Elisabeth" she said looking at me.

"Thank you…" I said, turning around to look in the mirror.

"Wow…" I said under my breath.

Well, she wasn't wrong, the girl looking back at me was indeed beautiful… but was this really me? Why did I feel so out of place?

"Now, let's do your hair" she said.

She pulled apart the braid that was holding together my hair, brushing it out gently. She pulled the top half of my hair into a bun, leaving the bottom half hanging. She finished the look with a couple of ruby earrings that matched the ruby pin on my collar.

"There…" she said, looking at me, seemingly content with her work.

"Thank you" I said politely.

"Well, come along now, young miss… let's get you fed before your walk, we shan't chance you fainting while you're out there"

I followed her out the door and through a long hallway that had many painted portraits hanging on both sides. There was one of me, sitting on a chair, with a man and woman standing on either side behind me. It had a gold label underneath with the inscription "Baron Charles Snowden, his wife Baroness Amelia and their daughter Baroness Elisabeth". It had a time stamp of 1916 in the painter's signature. Eventually we came to a balcony overlooking the entryway of this grand mansion. There were two staircases at either side of this balcony, curving down to another platform, before becoming one large stairway and ending on the main floor below. I followed her down the staircase, past the entry way and into a large, formal looking dining hall, where a friendly looking man and woman (that I remembered seeing in the painting in the hallway upstairs a few minutes earlier), were already seated at a long table, having breakfast.

"Good morning my dear daughter" the woman said, smiling at me. "You look breathtaking!... Hertha, you have outdone yourself" she finished.

"Good morning… mother… and father…" I said, trying to sound natural, as I walked in. A man dressed in a black tuxedo type suit pulled out a chair for me and I sat across from my mother, while my father sat at the head of the table between us both.

"So, Elisabeth… are you excited for your walk today?" my father asked.

"Oh… yes… very excited… sir" I said, stumbling over my words slightly.

Mother: "Is everything alright, dear?... Hertha, did you pull her corset too tight?" She exclaimed, looking at the maid who helped me get ready.

Me: "Yes… I'm alright… sorry, I just had a terrible sleep… that's all…"

Mother: "Perhaps we should cancel the walk?"

Me: "Oh… no, that's alright, Hertha worked so hard on getting me ready today, I'm sure I will be fine… mother… really, no need to worry" I said, reassuring her.

Mother: "Alright then…"

We finished eating breakfast and the people whom I assumed may be servants at this house, started clearing the table.

Suddenly there was a loud knock that echoed through the house.

Father: "Looks like young Master Masen has arrived on time as usual… are you ready, Elisabeth?" he asked looking at me.

Me: "Yes, father…" I said anxiously as I stood up to follow him.

We walked through the large entrance way and towards the open front door, where a butler stood waiting.

When I looked at who was outside the door, I couldn't believe my eyes…

"Edward?! What are you doing here?!" I asked shocked but relieved to see someone I actually seemed to recognize…

"I'm here for our walk, my love" he answered, smiling at me "and may I just say that you look absolutely stunning today!? he finished as he reached for my hand, kissing the back of it gently.

Did he just call me "my love"?... Why couldn't I remember being romantically involved with him? Something also seemed off about him… he looked different… his eyes… since when were they green…?

"But first, I must briefly talk to your father alone… wait for me in the carriage my sweet." he said lovingly. My maid, Hertha, walked me towards a horse drawn carriage several feet away and helped me get inside.

"What do you think they're talking about?" I asked Hertha.

"I can only imagine, miss Elisabeth" she answered, smiling suggestively.

I sat in the carriage and waited. I couldn't hear or see what was going on as they were too far away.

Edwards Butler handed him a small box… "Baron Snowden, I would like to ask your permission for your daughter's hand in marriage" he said opening the box to show off a beautiful ring.

"Young man, you have my blessings and full permission to ask my daughter to marry you, I couldn't be happier to have a great, young man such as yourself, join our family" he responded.

A few minutes had passed and Edward finally joined me in the carriage. His Butler and my maid joined us in the carriage also, sitting on a bench in front of us, watching us like hawks. Edward held my hand throughout the ride, his touch was warm and soft. We rode for about twenty minutes before we came to a stop. Our servants exited the carriage first, then Edward and lastly me. Edward held out his hand to help me down. We started walking and not far behind us were Hertha and James… I started to understand why they called it a "chaperoned walk". Edward held out his arm and I linked mine through his. He started making small talk before quietly joking about running away from our supervisors, causing us both to giggle. Eventually we came to a wide-open clearing with purple flowers surrounded by trees - the sun was shining perfectly above us, lighting the clearing, as though it was a spotlight. Once we reached the center of the clearing, Edward slowed down holding both my hands as he turned to face me. He looked deep into my eyes, then took a deep breath, before unexpectedly dropping down on one knee… "My dearest Elisabeth Marie Snowden, would you do me the extraordinary honour of becoming my wife?" he asked, as he presented a beautiful ring, looking up at me, with the most hopeful look I had ever seen. I looked down at Edward and it was as though I felt his love for me radiating from every fiber of his being.

"Yes… yes of course!" I said smiling at him.

In his excitement, he jumped up, hugging me tightly and swinging me around in circles.

Cough Cough* James cleared his throat loudly to ensure we knew of his displeasure regarding this "outrageous" display of affection. Edward lowered me back to the ground and apologized to our chaperones for allowing his excitement to get the better of him, then he put the ring on the ring finger of my left hand. Hertha was wiping tears of joy from her eyes. We continued our walk and Edward and I discussed the kind of wedding we'd have and more importantly when we would get married. Edward didn't want to waste any time, he pictured us having an outdoor, summer wedding. We settled on July 17, 1917. I couldn't help but enjoy myself - for a moment, I forgot all about my morning's woes. Our conversations flowed from one to another so purely and I started feeling a fondness of sorts for Edward that I had never seemingly felt before.

After a while, James notified us that it was time to return me home. We made our way back to the carriage – Edward held my hand again on the ride home. When we got there, he walked me to the door where my father and mother stood awaiting our arrival.

"Mother!… Father!… Edward asked me to marry him!" I told them excitedly.

"That is great news my dear! Your father and I couldn't be happier" Elisabeth's mother exclaimed hugging her.

"Edward, we would like to invite you and your parents over for Dinner tomorrow night, to discuss the wedding and such – please call us on the telephone to confirm" Elisabeth's father added.

"Thank you, Baron and Baroness! I will be sure to pass on the invite" He said politely before turning around to get back into his carriage and leaving.

My mother asked me to have tea in the study with her, to which I happily agreed, so Hertha went to the kitchen to fetch us a fresh pot.

"So, tell me, are you excited about marrying Edward?" she asked me.

"Yes, of course, very excited" I answered.

"Have you two discussed a date for the occasion?" she continued.

"Well… we were thinking July 17, this year?" I said nervously, wondering if she would think that this was way too soon.

"Perfect! That should be plenty of time to plan!" she said excitedly.

"Oh great! I wasn't sure if it was too short of notice" I said, relieved.

"Oh my dear daughter, it may be too short notice for some, but not for your mother" she said smiling and leaning over to put her hand on my knee, in an assuring manner.

"Thank you, mother!" I said smiling back.

That is when Hertha entered with a small cart that had a pot of tea, along with a couple of beautiful teacups as well as what looked like a couple of pieces of cake. She put a cup in front of each of us respectively before pouring us tea.

"Thank you, Hertha" I said as she finished pouring.

"You are most welcome, Miss Elisabeth" she said setting the pot on the table, "Will you be needing anything else, Mistress? she said, looking at my mother.

"Not right this minute, Hertha - thank you… you may go" my mother said.

Mother: "Well, we should make an appointment at the seamstress to get you fitted for a wedding gown as soon as possible"

Me: "Oh, yes… I didn't even think of that"

Mother: "Silly girl, were you planning on walking down the aisle in your nightgown?" she said jokingly as she began giggling.

Me: "I would have had to, if it wasn't for you" I said, blushing.

Mother: "Well good thing, you still have me - I will get started on a guest list today and will have the invites sent out after our dinner meeting with the Masen's tomorrow night.

Once we finished having tea, it was time for me to practice piano. Hertha led me to a huge hall that had a beautiful grand piano standing at the far end. She closed the doors behind me, and I walked towards the piano. I sat on the bench and hit a couple of keys. The sounds that followed had me excited to play a whole song. There was a music book on the piano stand; I opened it to see what song I should play. I played the song that the bookmark was left on, assuming that this is where I must have left off. It was Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat Major. I played it flawlessly and the melody echoed beautifully throughout the hall. I was so entrenched in the sound of this beautiful piano, that I closed my eyes, to feel the music. After some time, the doors opened and in came Hertha to fetch me for dinner.

"Playing beautifully as always, young miss Elisabeth! However, it is time for dinner… come along now" she said in her usual kind voice.

"Thank you, Hertha" I said following her.

I ate dinner quietly, as I observed mother's and father's conversations, as well as the staff around us, trying to figure out why I suddenly couldn't remember their names. Once finished, Hertha accompanied me back to my room to help me get ready for bed. When we got to my room, Hertha started undoing all the tiny buttons at the back of my dress which proved to be a time-consuming task. I started wondering if I had made the right decision in saying yes to Edward today.

Me: "Hertha… May I ask you a question?"

Hertha: "Why, of course, miss Elisabeth… what is it?"

Me: "Would you say that you know me very well? … Maybe even better than anyone…?"

Hertha: "Hmm… yes, I would say that is an accurate statement… why?

Me: "And you have been on every chaperoned walk that Edward and I have been on?"

Hertha: "Silly girl, of course I was there on every walk…"

Me: "Well would you say that Edward and I are truly in love?"

Hertha: "I have never seen anyone more in love than the two of you… Why are you asking these silly questions?"

Me: "Oh, no reason… thank you, that is all I wanted to know"

This eased my mind a great deal. At least now I could rest assured, knowing that I had made the right call today. Hertha soon finished undressing me and I quickly slipped into my nightgown. I got into bed and wished Hertha a good night, before fading off to sleep quickly after this eventful and exciting day. In my dream I heard familiar voices in my head… they kept begging me to wake up… it was almost eerie and the whole thing scared me a little… not to mention it caused me to have another terrible sleep.

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A/N: Would love to hear your thoughts, if you enjoyed this flashback to Serenity's previous life as Elisabeth Snowden! :)

Thanks for reading!


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